Three Jewels
by Jaenera Targaryen
Summary: Luviagelita Edelfelt, Marika Edelfelt, and Rin Tohsaka: three jewels whose light shines like the light of the stars. And this is the story of how their light clashed with the darkness of the Fifth Holy Grail War.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Prologue

The parade was in full swing, smartly-uniformed bands drumming and piping away as they marched in step down the street, colorful floats lumbering along as eclectically-dressed dancers and performers cavorted to the cheering crowds' delight. The roar of the crowds filled the air, as confetti and flower petals were thrown down from the rooftops and upper floors of the buildings along the street. Many in the crowds waved national flags, while others held aloft framed pictures of President Domingo de la Cavalleria.

"He's really popular, isn't he?" Joanna Johnson asked, sitting at a table in a café and looking out the glass windows at the crowds outside. "The president, that is?"

"Of course he is." Abigail Frunze replied, lifting her coffee cup to take a drink of her strong-smelling coffee. "Think about how this country was like before he became president: the economy was collapsing, unemployment was through the roof, and parts of the country occupied by foreign powers. But after the twelve years he's been in office, the economy is booming, unemployment is at an all-time low, and the occupiers booted out. It'd be a wonder if he wasn't popular."

"And now he'll be president for another four years." Joanna said with a nod. "Good times for this country."

"Yes," Abigail said with a nod of her own. The blonde picked up a biscuit and lifting it to her mouth bit into it and began to chew thoughtfully.

Joanna turned back to the street outside, watching as the parade continued to march by, this time of soldiers from the nation's army, wearing blue dress uniforms with white boots, belts, sashes, and berets, antiquated rifles – Mausers of all things, from the look of the weapons – held against their shoulders. After several moments the redhead turned back to the blonde. "A penny for your thoughts, Miss Frunze?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Abigail hummed before blinking and turning back to Joanna. She swallowed and shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Well, not really: I was just thinking, that if more politicians were like de la Cavalleria and actually cared for their countries instead of focusing on holding onto power and milking the system for benefits, the whole world would be a much better place than it currently is."

"Miss Frunze…"

"Well, that's just the reality of politics." Abigail said, lifting her coffee cup to her lips again. "It's a dirty business, and one I'm thankful to not be part of, nor do I have any desire to."

Joanna nodded sadly, and Abigail took a drink. Her eyes slid to a side, and lowering her cup slightly smiled wryly. "And here comes the man of the hour," she said, gesturing out the window. Joanna followed the gesture, and blinked at the sight of a larger float passing by, topped with a replica of the Tower of State, a great monument erected by the president in the capital two years ago to commemorate the 'rebirth' of the nation, and its emergence from poverty, corruption, and helplessness.

And behind the float slowly drove a dark-colored, open-topped car, carrying a tanned, well-built man in his fifties with greying, swept-back hair dressed in a predominantly-tan business ensemble, smiling and waving at the crowds as he passed. They went positively-berserk at the sight, the grinning if overworked policemen barely able to hold them back.

"A toast to a truly great man and leader," Abigail said, raising her coffee cup. Joanna followed suit, and indeed, the rest of the patrons, the staff, and even the owner, were all toasting or saluting the president as he passed by. "And our employer for tonight."

Joanna nodded her agreement, and Abigail put her coffee cup back down. She smiled as she did so, green eyes focusing on a young brunette woman over thirty (or more) years de la Cavalleria's junior, sitting beside him in a low-cut dress with white elbow gloves, also waving and smiling at the crowds. "And a lucky man too, from the look of things." She commented, and Joanna smiled ruefully.

"Miss Frunze…"

"It's fine." Abigail waved it off. "Considering all he's done, having a young and hot-blooded wife is hardly something we can begrudge the man."

Joanna nodded. "Yes." She said, and Abigail smiled.

"Well, we still have some time before we have to get to work." She said. "Shall we see some more of this city before we head back to the hotel to change?"

"Yes, Miss Frunze."

* * *

George Frederic Handel's Water Music Suite Number One in F Major played through the evening air, its tones mingling with the cheerful chatter and laughter of the crowd. The orchestra sat on one side of the hall, the men in black and white ensembles, the women wearing sleeveless dresses of various cuts in matching black.

Abigail sat in the strings section, her violin held against her shoulder with practiced ease, her eyes focused on the conductor and following his arm movements to play in tune with the rest of the orchestra. She blinked, and her eyes briefly flickered to Joanna, also playing a violin of her own.

" _Is something wrong,_ _ **Elsa**_ _?_ " Abigail Frunze, in reality _Marika Edelfelt_ , asked through their telepathic link.

" _It's nothing, my lady._ " Joaana Johnson, in reality _Elsa Heikkinen_ replied in kind. " _It's just that, for a reformer there's something eerily familiar about the crowd the president's invited._ "

" _Well he's still a politician, after all._ " Marika said. " _Let's see…yes, look there's big business figures – though more natives than foreigners – and high-ranking civil servants, high-ranking military officers, other politicians and notable figures…I'd bet though that more than a scattering of 'guests' are actually plain clothes security agents or something._ "

" _And more than a few women are 'professional escorts'?_ " Elsa replied with a mental smile, and Marika fought back a snort.

" _Naturally._ "

Elsa giggled silently, the link falling silent for the next few minutes as they focused on playing Handel's Water Music. " _Huh,_ " Elsa eventually sent the thought to her mistress. " _I thought the local clergy didn't like the president._ "

" _They don't._ " Marika confirmed, eyes subtly moving to glance where de la Cavalleria was greeting and welcoming his guests. Right now he was busy shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with a group of older men, one dressed in the white and red robes of a bishop and with the appearance she recognized as that of the capital's archbishop. The other priests wore black habits with Roman collars: lesser clergy, the archbishop's entourage no doubt.

" _So why are they here?_ "

" _It wouldn't be very political not to invite them, even if they did – quietly – support the opposition candidate. The same goes for the American Ambassador over there, among other notables who don't like de la Cavalleria but are somewhere around here. They're probably fuming at the implied gloating this whole party is._ "

" _I see._ "

Marika mentally sighed. " _I hate jobs like these._ " She silently said, her thoughts heavy with loathing. " _Killing good and honorable men who can't fight back, their only crime being they pissed off the wrong people who then went to the best killers that money and influence can buy._ "

" _My lady,_ "

" _It's fine, don't worry._ " Marika assured her companion. " _It's old bile by now, I'm used to it. It doesn't mean I have to like it though. Edelfelt's honor is committed to this contract, and I'll be damned if I'll let the family honor and reputation be stained because of sentimentality, no matter how well deserved it is._ "

" _Will you kill him now?_ "

" _No,_ " Marika replied. " _Let's wait for a bit, like say after or during dinner. A heart attack can come at any time, but it's more plausible given how heavy the fare is at occasions like these._ "

" _As you say, my lady._ "

* * *

A few hours later, Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major provided a soothing background to the subdued chatter over dinner, the guests largely occupied with the task of feeding themselves. Marika expertly and passionately played her violin, determined to give their host as fine a performance as she could before she claimed his life.

The orchestra would be allowed some time to rest and refresh themselves after this piece, and Marika decided then would be the right time to fulfil the contract assigned to her. " _It's nothing personal_." She thought as Canon in D ended, a scattering of light applause coming from the guests, she and the orchestra rising and giving a bow along with the conductor before returning to their seats.

As other orchestra members bustled off to get something light to eat and drink, Marika looked to Elsa, and subtly nodded.

 _It's time._

Marika sighed, and subtly glanced in the direction of the head table. She looked on from a distance as de la Cavalleria's nineteen-year old wife spooned some food into his mouth, and shared a beaming smile with each other as he chewed and swallowed.

" _It's just business._ " Marika thought as she made to appear heading to the toilet, if only to further the deception given the CCTVs at the ceiling corners. Once she was out of sight, she cast a single-action spell that effectively made her invisible to those without any magical resistance. She was still visible she just wouldn't register on their minds. " _Just as it's your job to lead your country as best you can and improve the lives of your people, well my job here and now is to kill you. I'm sorry._ "

Unhindered, Marika walked up to the man, who was cheerfully chatting with the other occupants of the head table. " _I really did think you were a great man in your own way._ " She thought before she sighed, and leaned in up close to the man's ear.

"Die." She whispered the command, her prana slipping into his body and stopping his heart in an instant.

Domingo de la Cavalleria abruptly sat up, clutching at a piercing pain that suddenly erupted at his chest. For several long moments, he struggled to keep composed, ignoring the concerned words of his table companions and even the touch of his wife, and then with a gasp of pain keeled over backwards.

Marika seemingly returned from the toilet, again registering on ungifted minds, a faux expression of shock and horror on her face as she heard the screams and wails and saw the grief and despair of the president's friends, allies, and loved ones at his death. An expert at criminal profiling would probably see through it, though not easily: she regretted that he had to die, and she had to be the one to do it, and that regret gave it an air of truth.

 _I'm so sorry. But I had to do what I had to do._

* * *

"Our accounts have been updated." Elsa said, closing the laptop as Marika finished taking off her dress before slipping on a white sleeveless top. "That's two hundred and fifty thousand US Dollars divided between us, my lady."

"Dirty money," Marika said in disgust, lying down on her bed wearing only a sleeveless top over her strapless bra and panties. She folded her arms behind her head and closed her eyes. "Those gold and copper mines had better be worth sending this country back to hell. And no doubt those Americans will butt in again, like they tend to do in any nation that goes up in flames, mark my words."

"My lady…"

Marika silently raised a hand, and folding back all but one finger pressed it against her hair. There was a flicker of prana, and the blonde coloring crumbled to dust to reveal the dark shade of brown her hair naturally was. Eyes opened, and fingers swiftly removed contact lenses to reveal a bright shade of blue underneath.

Marika sighed as she sat up, also crumbling her contacts to dust. "I know, I know," she said. "Business like this is what the Edelfelt do, it's been drilled into us ever since we're old enough to think for ourselves. And it's not like hyenas – and there are no hyenas as elegant as we are – are particularly nice animals. They're predators and scavengers. Still…I'd prefer hunting down Dead Apostles or Sealing Designates or even just random or not so random scum to shit like this."

Elsa didn't say anything, just smiling indulgently at her mistress as she brooded on her bed. Finally, Marika sighed, and stood up. "I'm going to take a bath." She said, already grabbing fresh clothes and cosmetic products from her open suitcase. "I want to scrub this dirty feeling off, but more importantly Elsa begin preparing for our departure. Let's use the second set of false identities to muddy the water further."

"Yes, my lady." Elsa said with a bow. "But what of the hotel staff and records?"

"Leave that to me." Marika said. "I'll take care of it, after I finish taking a bath. It'll probably be even more confusing than it already is, but it doesn't matter. Let's muddy the waters so much that no one who has no place doing so can trace this matter to us."

"Very good, my lady." Elsa said with a bow, and Marika walked off to bathe.

 _I want to go home already._

* * *

A/N

My thanks to Wellis, he's been of great help developing the concepts for this fic.

Just one thing, yes, Elsa and Marika are Finnish names. The former is a form of Elizabeth, and the latter is derived from Marie. Google is a wonderful thing, if only authors would actually use it to find genuine names instead of going for the lazy and overused trope of 'So Long as It Sounds Foreign'.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 1

The bus slowed to a halt at the stop, pneumatic brakes hissing followed by more hissing, this time from the mechanized door as it folded back. The conductor hopped down, briskly walking down the bus side and opening the cargo compartments pulled out a pair of rolling luggage bags, which he placed at the stop.

Behind the conductor down from the bus stepped two girls. Both were tall for their age, and both had duffel bags carried over their shoulders.

One of them was Marika Edelfelt, only child and daughter of Alphonse Edelfelt, head of the youngest branch of the prestigious Edelfelt clan of magi. Her long, neatly-combed hair was shaded a very dark-brown, almost black, and ran down just past her shoulders. A pair of starburst-shaped hairclips wrought from platinum and diamonds kept her hair back from her face. She wore a long-sleeved, collared blouse of white over a knee-length skirt of midnight-blue and dark-grey leggings, as well as white knee-boots. A red ribbon was tied neatly at her collar, which sported a ruby brooch set in gold.

The other girl was her personal retainer, Elsa Heikkinen. Like her mistress she was sixteen-years old, with slightly-wavy dark-brown hair neatly-cut and combed into an elegant bob, and matched Marika's height of five feet and seven inches. She wore a short-sleeved and collared blouse of white and a dark-grey skirt and apron, along with white knee socks and black leather shoes.

Marika nodded her thanks at the conductor before handing the man a generous tip, the man tipping his hat gratefully before briskly getting back onto the bus. Pressurized air hissed and the engine growled as the bus doors closed and the bus rumbled off. Marika grunted as she stretched her limbs and looked around.

"Is something the matter, Lady Marika?" Elsa asked.

"Hmm?" Marika hummed before shaking her head. "No, it's nothing. No, wait, there is something…Elsa, do you mind if I ask you something selfish?"

Elsa blinked in surprise. "What is it, Lady Marika?" she asked.

"Take our things back home." Marika replied with an apologetic smile and gesture. "I want to go visit the village for a bit, maybe buy something for dinner."

"Of course, I don't mind." Elsa said with a slightly-confused tone and expression. "However, about buying something for tonight, there's no need for my lady to go and visit the village herself. I can do so myself after I finish escorting my lady home with her luggage."

"I know you can." Marika said with a smile. "But, I want to cook dinner for tonight. Something…special, I guess you could say, for father and everyone at home."

 _If nothing else, it's something to wash away the figurative bile from our last job._

Elsa blinked and bowed. "I understand." She said as she rose with a smile. "I shall inform my father and your father about your plans for tonight then."

Marika nodded, and Elsa bowed again. "Then," she said. "Please be safe, and avoid tiring yourself, my lady."

"Yes, yes," Marika said, already turning and walking down the road towards the village. After a moment Elsa pulled out the handles of their luggage, and pulling them behind her walked down the lane leading away from the road to a series of widely-scattered homesteads dotting the Finnish countryside ahead.

* * *

A flock of swallows winged past overhead, Marika instinctively noticing the movement looked up and tracked their flight across the clear blue sky. Briefly closing her eyes, she took a deep breath of the clean country air, crisp and cool despite it being early afternoon in the summer. After months in a hot (even in winter or so it seemed to her), crowded, and bustling South American city, it was a refreshing change, and gave more of a homecoming feel than their earlier arrival at Helsinki did.

 _I grew up in this countryside, after all. Finland is my home, but this is_ _ **home**_ _._

Marika opened her eyes with a relaxed sigh, looking around with a nostalgic smile. The concrete and asphalt road with evenly-spaced electric posts and wires on either side was the only touch of modernity in sight, with the farmlands on either side green with young wheat softly swaying at the gentle afternoon breeze's touch.

There were flowers too, on the patches of untilled ground by the roadside: daisies and bluebells, and here and there red clovers. Marika took another deep breath as she ran a hand over a patch of sunflowers cheerfully facing the Sun overhead, and looked curiously across the road at a cow slowly making its way across a field of wheat.

The cow seemed to notice, and looking at her lowed at her. Marika looked away, and after a moment shrugged.

 _It probably wandered off. The owner or his boys and girls are probably looking for it right now._

She continued her walk towards the village, ignoring the animal's lows behind her which quickly stopped as the cow lost interest in her. A few minutes later and she noticed an approaching figure in the distance, puffing its way down the road at a modest speed in the opposite direction she was walking in.

Narrowing her eyes, she made out the appearance of an older, portly man with a bushy moustache dressed in country clothes riding a somewhat-beat up scooter. Recognizing him, she came to a halt and waved an arm in greeting as he rode up to her.

"Good day, Mister Nieminen." She said. "You seem to be in a hurry."

The portly man slowed to a halt, and he adjusted his glasses before speaking up. "Oh it's you." He said in recognition. "Welcome back, Miss Marika. How was your trip?"

"Productive," Marika said with a shrug and a small smile. "But frustrating at times."

Mister Nieminen laughed heartily at that. "That sounds a lot like life in general." He said, and Marika joined in on the laughter.

"I suppose I can't deny that." She admitted. "Though, seeing as I'm only sixteen, I wouldn't really say I'm qualified to talk about the topic."

Mister Nieminen nodded sagely. "True," he said. "Anyway to your earlier observation, yes, you see some of my cows wandered off earlier this morning – the blasted boy on watch was busy mooning over one of the milkmaids instead of keeping his mind on his job – and while we've managed to round up most of them since, one cow's still missing."

Marika blinked, and then chuckled. "Then perhaps I might be of assistance." She said with a smile.

"Oh?"

Marika gestured back down the road behind her. "I saw a cow wandering over there earlier." She said. "I think it was over at the Virtanen's field."

"Well now," the portly man said with an air of satisfaction. "You've my thanks, Miss Marika."

Marika bowed slightly. "It's no trouble at all, Mister Nieminen." She said.

"If you don't mind my asking though, is there any particular reason why you're headed off to the village right after getting back? That duffel bag you're carrying around makes me think you didn't pass by your house first."

"Ah," Marika said with a glance at her bag. "Yes, well, I wanted to stretch my legs out, and also, after having spent the past couple of months or so overseas, I wanted to cook something special for father and everyone else now that I'm back."

"Ah, I see." Mister Nieminen said with a nod. "In that case though, you might catch your father by surprise."

"Oh?"

"He's gone to the Susi's place, the dogs caught something recently. Nothing bad, but enough to warrant Master Edelfelt's attention."

"I see." Marika said with a slow nod. "I hope that the Susi's dogs will get well soon then. With that said, and at the expense of seeming callous, I think I'm more than a bit grateful to pleasantly surprise – to an extent seeing as he knew I was coming back today – father tonight."

Mister Nieminen laughed. "Don't worry, I'm sure God will forgive you." He said grandly. "Nothing wrong with a child trying to impress her father."

Marika bowed slightly, and Mister Nieminen started his scooter. "Well," he said. "I've got a cow to catch, and I wouldn't want to hold you up any more than I already have, so I'll be taking my leave then, Miss Marika."

"Likewise, Mister Nieminen." Marika said with a hand raised in farewell, and with a nod Mister Nieminen puffed away on his scooter.

* * *

Some way further down, a stream intersected with the road. It flowed under a stonemasonry bridge, dating back to the 19th Century, periodically renovated but otherwise fundamentally the same as it was when it was built well over a century ago.

Squeals and cries of delight and peals of laughter could be heard from up ahead as Marika approached the bridge, and she couldn't help but smile at the sound. The stream wasn't particularly fast-flowing save when it rained, and while it deepened in bad weather or during the spring thaw it usually went about waist deep for an adult person.

For children living nearby, it made for a good swimming alternative to the lake down by the village.

Pausing at the crest of the bridge, Marika leaned against the parapet and looked down. "Don't get too rowdy now." She said, as the children below splashed water at each other and just swam around.

"Oh, it's Miss Marika!"

"Miss Marika you're back!"

"Welcome home, Miss Marika!"

"Did you bring us souvenirs, Miss Marika?"

"Stop that, that's rude!"

"Yeah right, as if you're not interested."

"T-that's…"

"Would you like to swim too, Miss Marika?"

Marika just laughed, waving a greeting at two women sitting under an umbrella while keeping an eye on the children swimming. "Tempting," she told the children. "But I have something to attend to."

That brought a chorus of dismay from the children below, and Marika couldn't help but laugh at the sound. "If you're looking for your father Miss Marika," one of the chaperones called out helpfully. "He's gone over to the Susi household. The dogs caught something, bad food I think it was."

"Yes, I know." Marika called back. "Mister Nieminen told when I met him earlier."

"Has he found his missing cow yet?"

Marika laughed. "Yes," she said. "He's found it. It was over at one of the Virtanen fields."

"Good to hear, damn boy on watch was mooning over one of the milkmaids."

Marika laughed again before turning back to the children who'd gone back to swimming as their elders had briefly chatted with each other. She was content to just watch in silence for a couple of minutes, and then spoke up again. "Don't you think it's a bit early in the afternoon?" she asked, fishing out her pocket watch.

"Early?" one of the girls asked. "But it's already well past noon!"

"Yes, it's two-fifteen in the afternoon." Marika replied, and returned her pocket watch to her pocket. "You could get sunburn you know? You should wait until about four or so."

"That's what sunscreen is for!" an older boy of ten replied with a grin and thumbs-up gesture, followed by approving shouts from the rest of the children. "And besides, what else are we supposed to do in the afternoon? Watch TV? Read? That's boring."

"You could always take a nap." Marika pointed out, and was not surprised by the childish jeers that the children responded with. She laughed, as did the women watching the children.

"Don't worry Miss Marika." One of the women said. "We made sure they put sunscreen on before they went swimming. And we did manage to get them to wait for an hour or so after lunch before letting them into the water."

"Sounds good," Marika said, straightening as she did so. "Sorry if I caused offense."

"Oh it's fine, my dear girl." The other woman said with a dismissive wave. "You're just being concerned, that's all."

Marika nodded before taking a look at her pocket watch again. "Well I have to go." She said, to both the women and the children. "But about souvenirs, well, wait and see until I help out in music class again."

Childish cheers broke out at that, and Marika grinned before waving a farewell at the two women who waved back, as did the children in the water. "Bye, Miss Marika!" they chorused.

Marika waved at them too, and then went on her way.

* * *

"Hey look, Miss Marika's back."

"Welcome back, Miss Marika."

"How was your trip, Miss Marika?"

"Welcome home, Miss Marika."

Marika laughed softly to herself as she walked down the village's cobblestone streets after briefly exchanging pleasantries after another pair of villagers. " _It's hardly the first time I've left on a trip by myself._ " She thought to herself as she turned a corner and followed the street down to the lakefront and the fishermen's lane. " _But things never change. And I don't want it too._ "

"Oh hey, good afternoon Miss Marika." The young man at the usual stall she visited to buy fish greeted her. "Heard you were back, but seeing is believing as the old saying goes."

"Yes, that it does, Gotti." Marika said with a laugh, the older – by about eight years – man joining in.

"So, anything I can help you with, Miss Marika?" he offered after a moment.

"Hmm," Marika hummed, thoughtfully tapping at a cheek. "I want something special for father and everyone else home tonight."

"Well everything's special here and in every stall down the lane." Gotti said with a grin, and eliciting another laugh from the girl. "We've got whitefish, pike, salmon, and trout. But, if you want something _really_ special, this whitefish over here was caught just this morning."

"When, this morning?"

Gotti chuckled. "You know your fish, don't you?" he asked. "I'd say about an hour or so before lunch."

"May I?"

"By all means."

Marika poked and prodded at the whitefish on display, noting its firmness and the color of its flesh and eyes. "Nice, very nice," she said. "I'll take four please."

"Right away!"

The fisherman's apprentice whistled as he picked out the best of the whitefish on display, placed them on a sheet of aluminum foil, covered them liberally with shaved ice to keep them cool, and rolled them up. Rinsing his hands at a nearby tap, he then placed the fish inside a paper bag, which he handed to Marika before accepting the offered payment. Still whistling, he counted the difference and handed the change to Marika. "Here you go, Miss Marika." He said, before tipping his hat. "And thanks for the patronage, as usual."

"Your welcome, Gotti." Marika said with a cheerful wave as she walked away. "Now then, that's the fish done. We can bake bread at the house, but…"

Marika trailed off, and snapping her fingers walked off towards the greengrocer to buy some fresh vegetables for dinner.

* * *

Hans Heinikken gestured at his daughter, who walked over and followed her father into the laundry room. Behind them, Marika stayed at the counter, cheerfully humming to herself as she cleaned the fish.

First she used the scissors to cut off most of their fins and tail, and then with a knife skinned the scales off the fish before slitting a flank open near the bottom. And then still humming, she reached into the fish with her fingers and ripped out the fish's guts, which she threw in a nearby trash can, before fingering around for any organs still left in the fish. That done, she rinsed the 'cleaned' fish with running water from the tap before setting it aside.

"Is something wrong, father?" Elsa asked.

Hans looked at his daughter, and gestured at Marika, who had begun work on another fish. "Shouldn't I be asking that question?" he asked softly.

"Not…really…" Elsa managed. "Lady Marika knows how to cook, and well, she just wants to…celebrate, I guess homecoming."

"It's not the first time she and you have gone out on a job on your own, but she's not usually like this when you do." Hans observed, and Elsa grimaced.

"Dirty job." She said laconically, and Hans' eyes briefly widened in understanding.

"Oh I see." Hans said with a sigh. "I remember back in the day…well, I suppose if this is how she copes, then I'd say it's better than some alternatives I could think of."

"Alternatives?" Elsa echoed.

Hans sighed. "Usually when we had to do…unsavory things for unsavory clients," he said. "Well, we had to cope, just like Lady Marika. For most of us, it was usually drinks at a bar down at Helsinki, and maybe gambling over a game or two of cards or pool. Compared to any of those, this is less questionable."

"Well it's not like we could actually get into a bar without 'cheating', and I'd say it's inappropriate for me to gamble with my lady."

Hans laughed briefly and patted Elsa on a shoulder. "How about you, Elsa?" he asked. "How are you holding up?"

Elsa sighed. "I didn't do the kill, since I was just backup for my lady." She said. "So I'm not as torn up over killing a genuinely-well-meaning man and ruining his country for some client with more money and information than the target. With that said, I understand how my lady feels, and I feel the same way to an extent."

Elsa paused and sighed again. "I'm fine." She said. "It's just a job after all. I can cope."

Hans said nothing, instead staring at his daughter in the eyes for several moments, and then giving a smile, patted her on a shoulder again. "You've got bread to bake, don't you?" he asked, and she smiled back at him.

"Yes."

"Well, get to it then, Elsa." He said, and Elsa nodded before heading back into the kitchen. Hans looked at her and Marika – now starting to bone and fillet the fish – chatting for a bit before his daughter began working on her dough again, and with a sigh made to leave out the door. Knowing his master's daughter, she'd probably want to eat outside too, and that meant getting a table, a couple of benches, and a reclining chair out the shed to the back to the front of the house.

Then there was the china, the silverware, and glasses to prepare as well. And the grill too, of course.

* * *

It was already sunset by the time Alphonse Edelfelt returned home, the tall and well-built man pushing into his fifties but still going strong, and without any need for any of the various mysteries magi could use to extend their prime beyond normal. As it was, his once black hair – inherited from his French mother – was largely-shot with grey, as were his neatly-trimmed beard and moustache. Dressed in a white, long-sleeved and collared shirt with blue pinstripes, and dark brown pants and heavy boots, the former held up by dark-red suspenders, he clambered out of his car and blinked at the sight of his old comrade and now manservant (after a magical backlash had left Hans' magic circuits unstable and the man vulnerable to nervous damage should he use magic again) setting up a grill.

A short distance from the grill, a table with two benches had been set up, the former covered with a white tablecloth decorated with red diamond shapes. A chair had been placed at the end of the table, clearly for Alphonse's use, and as Alphonse approached Elsa came out of the house carrying a stack of plates.

Alphonse knew that his daughter was coming home today. Even so, he still had to ask.

"Hans," he began, shifting the bag carrying his tools to one hand. "Elsa, what's this?"

"Lady Marika wanted to eat out tonight." Elsa replied. "Literally so, Master Alphonse. Something special, she says."

"Grilled whitefish seasoned with white wine and cooked with olive oil." Hans added, adding coals to the grill. "Salad and bread,"

"Father!"

Hans broke off at the shout, and Alphonse glanced in its direction before nodding at Hans and walking to meet his daughter. Not that he needed to: Marika was already walking as fast as she could while carrying a tray with a platter of raw fish on it, which she set down on the table. Wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing she grinned at her father before all but jumping him.

Alphonse grunted as he caught his daughter and returned her embrace, kissing the top of her head before she pulled away. "Is everything alright, Marika?" he asked.

"Of course," Marika said before tilting her head. "Or can't I treat my father well with my earnings from a job well done?"

Alphonse smiled slightly at that, but he could see through his daughter clear as day. She was his daughter after all. "Your heart's in the right place, little eaglet." He said with a small chuckle, and patted her on the head. The girl laughed weakly too, and lowered her face, her cheeks pink.

"I guess you saw right through me?"

"We can talk, _after_ dinner."

Marika looked up and nodded, and Alphonse patted her on a shoulder. "I don't suppose I still have time to freshen up, do I?" he asked, glancing around.

"Well the coal still has to heat up," Marika answered. "And the bread still needs a bit more time in the oven. And of course, the fish needs to be cooked as well. So I think you have ample time to take a shower and maybe loosen up a bit at the sauna."

Hans choked slightly at that. "Is something wrong?" Marika asked.

"No, not really, but if Master Alphonse is to use the sauna, then I'm going to have to fire up the stove to get some steam up. If you'll excuse me."

Hans bowed and briskly walked off around the house to the back, where the sauna was, a short distance from the house. The three looked after the man, and then Alphonse coughed before turning back to his daughter. "Well," he said. "I suppose I should go and shower up, shouldn't I? Will you two be alright here?"

"Yes, Master Alphonse." Elsa said with a curtsy, while Marika shrugged.

"Just leave it to us, father."

Alphonse nodded, but didn't leave at once. He stayed silent for a moment, and then sighed. "Welcome home, Marika." He said.

"Yes, I'm home."

* * *

Alphonse sighed with satisfaction as he sat back in his chair after dinner, idly swirling the white wine in his glass. Marika had a whole bench to herself on one side, while Elsa and Hans sat on the other.

Alphonse swirled his drink, and briefly held it up to admire the nightlong-twilight of the 'midnight Sun' play through the liquid in his glass. And then in a measured movement, raised it to his lips to take a small, equally-measured drink. He might not be as well-off as his cousins and other relatives in the main and other branch families, but he was born and had been raised a noble no less than they were.

"Did you enjoy your meal, father?" Marika asked, and Alphonse had to fight down the urge to laugh. She might be old enough to fight and kill, but at the end of the day she was still a child – well an adolescent – who craved approval from a parent.

"Yes, you'll make a good wife someday." He said, and actually chuckled at her flustered and red-cheeked appearance. Elsa and Hans also laughed at the sight, and Marika coughed primly but didn't say anything. "How did you prepare this fish anyway? It had a simple, but catching flavor to it."

"Well, I had to clean the fish first, of course. I did that by…"

"Marika," Alphonse interrupted firmly, though with a hint of amusement. Marika chuckled.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." She said. "Anyway, I had to clean the fish first, then bone and fillet it. After that I had to marinade it, until the time came to cook it."

Alphonse nodded slowly. "And?" he asked. "What did you use to marinade the fish?"

"Just white wine and minced shallots and garlic." Marika said with a shrug and a small smile. "Just enough to bring out and accent the flavor, the grilling does the rest. And olive oil, of course."

"Ah," Alphonse said with a nod. He fell silent afterwards, sitting back in his chair and relaxing with a glass of wine in his glass. After a moment, Hans noticed Marika was also holding her wine glass, and like her father idly swirling the drink inside. He glanced at Elsa, who nodded at her father.

"Well then," Hans said, getting up along with Elsa. "Shall we clear the table?"

Alphonse nodded, and Hans and Elsa busied themselves clearing the table of dirty plates and utensils. After a few minutes they took them back inside the house, leaving a half-empty bottle of wine, a pitcher of cool water, and a small bucket of ice behind on the table. And of course, father and daughter, sitting in silence.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Alphonse asked at length.

Marika sighed. "The man didn't deserve to die." She said. "He broke up a network of bribes and 'patronages' that poisoned his country with crime and kept its economy in a stranglehold of foreign and corporate interests, performed large-scale land reforms, allowed the farmers to form their own credit and labor unions, restored the integrity of the government organs, and overhauled his country's legal and tax codes. He was a true leader, the likes of which only appears once every few generations. And for the price offered by that filthy spell-caster and his company which once and probably will again own the country's gold and copper mines, I snuffed out that star."

Alphonse didn't say anything. He stayed silent for several moments, and then with a sigh, leaned forward to cross his arms on the table. "And?" he prompted his daughter.

"I'm a hypocrite, aren't I?" she asked. "I recognized the man's achievements, and his potential to achieve more and be greater than he already was, but I still killed him in the end."

Alphonse nodded slowly. "And," he began. "If you could do it all over again, would you do differently?"

Marika didn't answer at once. She just stared at the liquid in her glass, and watched it swirl around with every movement of her wrist. Finally, after more than a minute later, she shook her head. "No." she said. "I'd still have killed him. The moment Edelfelt accepted the contract and gave it to me, the family's honor was on the line. I had to do it, just as he had to lead his nation. We both did our duty."

"But you regret it still, even knowing that?" Alphonse asked gently.

"Is that so wrong?"

Alphonse didn't answer at once. Instead, he sat silent for a few moments and then rising, sat down right next to his daughter. He placed an arm around her shoulders, and rubbed her other arm comfortingly. "No," Alphonse said. "Keep that regret and others like it, because that regret will keep you Human all through your life, Marika."

Marika glanced at her father, who smiled down at her. "You, me, every last Edelfelt, are soldiers of fortune." He said. "And that's just it: we're _soldiers_. We do as we're ordered: fight, kill, conquer, destroy, burn, raze, and more if need be. And we'll be given plenty of unsavory orders throughout our lives, and might even have to give them ourselves. But that regret, will keep us from being consumed by what we have to do, and remain who we are."

Alphonse patted Marika's other arm. "Do you understand, Marika?" he asked.

Marika nodded slowly. "Yes," she said softly. "I understand."

Alphonse smiled wider, and kissed her on the forehead. Marika smiled sadly, though it quickly faded. And then she reached forward, taking the wine bottle to refill her glass. Alphonse raised an eyebrow, though he said nothing.

And then turning to the south, Marika stared silently into the distance for a few moments, and then with a sweeping movement of an arm, scattered white wine sparkling through the golden air: a tribute to the dead, and an acceptance of the regret that she'd brought upon herself.

Alphonse nodded approvingly, and as Marika settled back down, pulled her into a hug. Marika nestled her head against her father's chest, the two of them sitting silent as the night lengthened, staying together until Marika fell asleep, and the aging man finally carried her back inside.

* * *

A/N

Just some fluff, to flesh out the characters.

A couple of notes: branch and main families of clans do not necessarily have to have different names, like might be the case with the El-Melloi, i.e. Kayneth _Archibald_ and Reines _Archisorte_. Usually they use the same name, but add a place modifier, i.e. 'x of this place, and x of that place'. So Marika and Alphonse being Edelfelt branch members while still using the family name is _not_ impossible.

Alphonse is basically telling Marika that the regret will keep the unsavory aspects of her career as simply 'I had to do it/I was only following orders' cases, not things she actually wanted to do, and if she doesn't regret them, then it will all go downhill from there.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 2

A black Rolls-Royce quickly made its way down the road, speeding past farmland and pastures on either side. "So," Luviagelita 'Luvia' Edelfelt began. "You have reservations with Marika, is that it?"

"No," Adrianna Ilmarinen, her personal retainer said. "It's not so much I have anything against Lady Marika or Master Alphonse, however as a prospective partner in my lady's endeavor I would hazard there are better choices available."

"Oh?" Luvia asked. "What makes you say that?"

"I would not denigrate their achievements, as they have made great strides in their bestowed specialization, as the previous year's ritual showed, as does Master Alphonse and Lady Marika's trademark mystery." Adrianna replied. "However in terms of magical prowess they are the least qualified among the branch families."

Luvia nodded her agreement. "That is certainly so." She admitted. "However out of them all, Marika and her father are the best suited for dealing with the unexpected, given their penchant for…unorthodox, solutions. In that regard, they are unsurpassed by any among the family."

"Certainly," Adrianna conceded. "That is so."

"Furthermore," Luvia continued. "Apart from my sister who is currently unavailable, I have no other relative save for my father with whom I can operate as familiarly with as I would with Marika. On the battlefield, that would be an incomparable asset. And of course, her history with the Tohsaka could prove a useful bonus."

"Lady Marika is most professional and appropriate given their history." Adrianna remarked. "Does my lady believe the Tohsaka will be otherwise?"

"Well, who knows?" Luvia said with a shrug. "If not, then so be it. If so, then as I said it could prove a useful bonus for our efforts in the contest."

"And Lady Marika?"

"I've never asked for her reasoning on the matter, but I believe I can count on her professionalism on the matter." Luvia said with another shrug. Pausing she took a glance out the window. "From what I know of our Japanese cousin, she is unbloodied in combat. Her spirit is untested and untried. That is not to say she is weak or of no concern: from my interactions with her at the Clock Tower she is certainly a magus worthy of respect, possessed of great talent and potential, and a worthy if untried fighter in her own right."

"However?"

Luvia nodded. "Marika is as tried and tested in battle as I am, forged in the fire and blood of war, at least as much as adolescents as we are can be." She said. "She will not falter. I know it as certainly as I know the Sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning, and every day after."

Adrianna stayed silent for a few moments, and then closing her eyes bowed. "It shall be as you say, my lady." She said.

Luvia nodded again. "In any case," she said. "We must first see if Marika is willing to join me."

"Does my lady believe she will not?"

"Depending on her reasoning, she may not be as professional as we think she might be." Luvia said, before shaking head. "But I do not believe she will make a poor reasoning, even if she does refuse my request. Knowing Marika, any reasoning she makes in the event of a refusal will be rational and well-thought out, and likely pragmatic to a potential fault."

"But, the possibility exists that Lady Marika will refuse?"

"It does." Luvia said with a nod.

"If so, then will my lady endeavor to have the clan council make a formal assignment of it?"

"Tempting, but I would rather not resort to such crude and brutish methods." Luvia said with a shake of her head, blonde curls rustling against each other. "Not to mention such an approach would leave a bad taste behind, and would indeed be an act worthy of second-rate drama. I would not ruin our excellent relationship so. But I do not believe she will refuse, though I imagine she would delay her decision by having me reconsider my decision to participate."

"Then if she refuses, you will respect her decision?"

Luvia didn't answer at once, instead staring at her maid in silence for a few moments. At length she briefly closed her eyes before answering. "Perhaps," she admitted, looking out a window as she did so. "But if so, I may offer to make it an official…mission, as it were."

Adrianna looked surprised at that, and Luvia chuckled. "It's a rather inelegant and very mercenary solution, and rather demeaning." She admitted. "It too would leave a bad taste behind. I do not think I will pursue such a course of action, and yes, I would likely respect her decision to refuse should she choose so. In any case, I am not so desperate or existentially in need of her assistance in the coming contest, only aware that it may prove a decisive contribution to our cause. If need be, I can participate on my own, and with what retainers I bring along."

"Yes," Adrianna said with a bow. "Please accept my apologies for any offense caused, no matter how unintentional it might have been."

"Don't worry about it." Luvia said with a gracious smile. "You were only performing your duty as my personal retainer. To question my decisions and to point out potential errors in reasoning is part of your duty, and of what use is a retainer who does not perform their duty?"

"As you say, my lady." Adrianna said with another bow. Luvia nodded, and looked back out the window at the countryside streaking past, once again sitting in silence.

* * *

Hans bowed and showed Luvia and Adrianna inside. "Please make yourself at home, Lady Luviagelita." He said with an arm extended invitingly towards the comfortably-padded armchairs and couch in front of the fireplace. "Lady Marika is currently out, but Master Alphonse is currently at work in the workshop. I will inform him of my lady's arrival, so I would ask for a measure of your patience."

Luvia nodded as she elegantly sat down at the couch, and with another bow Hans left out the front door and down from the porch walked from sight around the front. "Oh dear," Luvia said to Adrianna, who was now standing quietly-attentive to one side of the fireplace. "I guess we should have messaged ahead after all."

"That may be so, my lady," Adrianna replied. "However it may be that Lady Marika will not be away for long. She may return soon."

"Perhaps," Luvia conceded with a nod before looking around the living room. She'd been here before of course, but as always the rustic design of the place was a sharp but refreshing contrast to the ornate elegance of the main Edelfelt residence in Lapland near Rovaniemi.

The walls were of unfinished brick, though the ceiling was of wood and the stone floor had been paneled in wood as well. The former was unvarnished however, compared to the latter and to the staircase. Far from appearing unattractive however, it added further appeal to the place, and it certainly fit the image presented by the youngest branch of the Edelfelt Clan to a tee: simple and unsophisticated, yet vigorous and youthful, brimming with untapped promise.

With that said, however, the living room was certainly varied in decoration. There was a stuffed deer's head above the fireplace, a genuine and complete suit of full plate armor dating back to 16th Century Germany in one corner (neither Luvia nor Marika had ever found out where and how Alphonse had gotten it and Luvia's inquiries elsewhere had gone nowhere), a stuffed bear in another corner (very tacky in Luvia's opinion), a grandfather clock beside the door, and an 18th Century Manchu vase (Luvia had learned early on that Alphonse was _very_ touchy about his prized Manchu vase being misidentified as Ming) standing on a wooden pedestal between two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves standing against the wall opposite the fireplace.

The last corner (the fourth corner and its surrounding space were filled up by the staircase's bulk) was occupied by a liquor cabinet. Apart from those, there were plenty of framed photos on the walls and a smaller number standing on the mantelpiece.

The ones mounted on the wall were usually of Alphonse and his parents, or triumphant photos of events in his life, either alone or with family or teammates. A few of the newer ones featured Marika's presence, either growing up or on her first missions on the field.

The mantelpiece was reserved for Marika's sole triumphs (so far) however. For instance, there was her graduation photo from primary school, where she'd graduated at the top of her class. A pair of photos showed her receiving the championship award for the junior division of the national bird hunting competition for the past two years running. Yet another one showed her after her piano recital at age ten, while another showed her after her violin recital at age fourteen.

 _It's rather jarring though, to see the difference. Let's see…_

… _yes, she used to be as cute as a porcelain doll when she was younger but after growing up…_

… _well I wouldn't say Marika isn't pretty, but she's certainly not 'cute' anymore._

 _I wonder how she'd react if I point out the difference between before and after?_

Luvia's musings on the matter came to an end at the sound of heavy footsteps through the front door, and turning her head spotted her uncle reentering his house (the workshop – and armory – was in the basement but accessible only through a hatch along the house's exterior). Rising to her feet, Luvia gave a polite curtsy: though she was the main family's heiress, Alphonse Edelfelt was still an elder, and she was imposing in his home.

Honor was due, and it would be given.

"Luviagelita," Alphonse greeted her cheerfully, walking up to an armchair and gesturing for Luvia to sit before doing so himself. "It's good to see you. How are you today?"

"I'm fine, thank you, uncle." Luvia said, and Alphonse nodded.

"I'm glad to hear that." He said. "So, is there anything I can help you with?"

"I apologize for imposing, and in advance if I might seem to be rude," Luvia began, and Alphonse smiled indulgently. "However I came to see my cousin, Marika."

"Oh?"

"I have something of a selfish request to ask of her."

Alphonse hummed to himself at that, stroking at his beard. He and Luvia turned at the sound of footsteps down from the corridor leading further into the house, and spotted Hans approaching with a tea set. He set it down at the coffee table, and with a bow left.

"Tea?" Alphonse offered, already leaning forward.

"Please," Luvia accepted the offer. "With just a touch of milk if it's no trouble."

Alphonse nodded, pouring his niece a cup of tea before adding a touch of milk and mixing it with a teaspoon. Removing the teaspoon, he offered the teacup on a saucer to Luvia, placing it on the table before her.

"Thank you," Luvia said, and Alphonse nodded as Luvia took the saucer and lifting the teacup from its saucer briefly took in the scent before taking a sip. It was slightly creamier than she would have wanted, but it was enjoyable as it was.

Alphonse prepared his own tea, sitting back before taking a sip even as Luvia replaced her teacup and saucer on the table. Hans appeared again, this time with biscuits and sweetmeats, and placing it on the table bowed before joining Adrianna by the wall, the two retainers sharing a polite nod as he did so.

"A selfish request?" Alphonse echoed while placing his teacup and saucer back on the table. He tapped the saucer a few times with a finger. "Might I ask the nature of this request?"

Luvia smiled. "I suppose you have the right to know." She said. "Marika is your daughter after all. Very well, I would like to ask for her assistance in the coming Fifth Holy Grail War."

Alphonse didn't answer at once, nor did he tap his saucer. He stayed silent in thought for several long moments before nodding slowly. "The Holy Grail War?" he echoed neutrally, glancing at Luvia from the corner of his eyes. "It will begin soon?"

"Most likely by the first or second months of the coming year." Luvia answered. "I have already received my command spells, though I have yet to procure – or rather I am in the process of procuring – a catalyst for the Servant summoning ritual."

Alphonse silently sat back, stroking his chin. After several more long moments, he seemed to come to a conclusion. "I see." He said with a slow nod. "I can also see why – at least partly – you would want Marika to assist you in the contest. After all, among the current generation of Edelfelt heirs and heiresses, there is no one as familiar to you as Marika is."

"However," Alphonse continued before Luvia could say anything. "Would not an older branch member or perhaps even a main family member be a better choice? Our branch is hardly the most proficient in the Art as it were."

"That is certainly so, though I apologize for rudely pointing out so." Luvia said. "However, when it comes to dealing with unexpected situations, well, there is none better-suited than you or Marika, especially when it comes to, ahem, 'unorthodox' solutions."

Alphonse chuckled. "Unorthodox solutions?" he echoed before narrowing his eyes at Luvia. "I suppose I cannot deny that. However, if so then perhaps would not it be better if either I or _both_ Marika and I were to accompany you? Marika is not as experienced as I, and of course we would be more formidable together."

"I had considered that matter." Luvia said with a nod. "Indeed, following your train of thought, we could do with an older member of the main family present to bolster our magical war power."

"But?"

"It would be unseemly if we did so, would it not?" Luvia asked. "Even just asking Marika to accompany me is already stacking the deck as it were. Anything more would be…inappropriate, in the extreme."

Alphonse chuckled again, and nodded. "Quite so," he said. "Well I will not question your motivations they appear to be clear as day to me."

Luvia smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly at being seen through so easily. "With that said," Alphonse added. "You should expect Marika to do so. Indeed, I would expect that girl to ask you to reconsider your decision to participate in the first place."

Luvia looked surprised at that, but Alphonse carried on before she could speak. "Not that I think she will refuse your request for her help," he said. "Even if I forbade her accompanying it's very likely it would take nothing less than a geis to actually stop her in such a case. Indeed, if you had not asked for her help and she had found out you were participating in a Heaven's Feel ritual, you would find her at your doorstep in Japan and with more than a few choice words about not letting her know."

Luvia blinked and smiled at that. That was just like Marika, even back in the days before she'd grown out of her shell.

" _Vanilla." The timid, accented voice came._

 _Eyes turned to Marika, the dark-haired girl standing out like a black rose in a patch of sunflowers seeing as she was the only brunette among the otherwise blonde girls. There were seven of them there, sitting at a park in Helsinki, eating ice cream while nearby a pair of women that were their chaperones looked on watchfully from a bench._

 _She was also the only one among the seven heiresses to seemingly disagree with the main family's heiress that chocolate was the best ice cream flavor there was. Marjatta Edelfelt, Luviagelita's twin sister, raised a blonde eyebrow at the statement. "What about vanilla?" the eight-year old girl asked archly._

 _Marika fidgeted under her cousins' – not just Luvia and Marjatta – eyes, but she didn't look away. "I," she began hesitantly before catching her second wind. "I like vanilla more than chocolate."_

 _The resulting silence was profound, and it lasted for more than a few moments. And then Luviagelita and Marjatta looked at each other, the mirror images smiling and chuckling as one. "Opinionated," they said also as one, though it was the next words which shocked all the other heiresses apart from Marika, who just seemed relieved and surprised. "We like it."_

" _Yes," Luviagelita began. "You should stay that way, cousin Marika."_

" _There's no reason for you not to have your own opinion." Marjatta continued._

" _And the same goes for all of you." Luviagelita said to the other heiresses._

" _Within reason of course," Marjatta added._

" _And appropriate to our and your stations." Luviagelita continued._

" _But you, cousin Marika," Marjatta began._

" _For being the first to have an opinion of your own," Luviagelita continued._

" _We have a gift." They said as one._

" _Gift?" Marika echoed, and the twins grinned._

" _The nickname only I and our parents are allowed to use for Luviagelita." Marjatta began._

" _And now you will be allowed to use it too." Luviagelita said._

" _From now on," Marjatta continued._

" _Call me Luvia." Luvia finished._

 _Marika sat silent for a few moments, and then with a shy smile nodded slowly. "Okay," she said, looking timidly at Luvia. "Luvia."_

 _The twins just grinned wider._

" _She was opinionated then,_ " Luvia thought fondly. " _And she is opinionated now. Marjatta…_ "

"Speaking of Marika," Alphonse said, shaking Luvia out of her reverie as he put his teacup and saucer back down on the table. "Unfortunately she won't be back until later this afternoon, probably in the evening as well."

"Oh?"

"She works part-time as an assistant for the local school's music teacher, though I suppose 'working' isn't that accurate, seeing as she isn't paid for her labor. 'Volunteering' would be a more appropriate term."

"But it's the summer."

"Yes," Alphonse admitted with a nod. "However, for those who want to learn how to play the piano outside of school, there's a summer workshop down at the village. Marika volunteers there as well."

"Ah," Luvia said with a nod. "I understand."

Alphonse nodded as well. After a few moments of silence, he turned to Hans. "Hans," he said. "Prepare one of the guest rooms for Luvia to relax in until Marika returns."

"Yes, Master Alphonse."

"And adjust plans for tonight accordingly, as well."

"Of course, Master Alphonse."

"I do not wish to impose…" Luvia began, caught off-guard, but broke off at a raised hand and a smile from Alphonse.

"It's no trouble at all." He said. "You've come this far, and you'll have to wait for Marika as well. It's the least we could do. And besides, there's no reason an uncle can't spoil his favorite niece every so often."

Luvia smiled and nodded. "Very well," she said. "If so, then I humbly accept your hospitality, Uncle Alphonse."

Alphonse nodded, and picking up his teacup and saucer took another drink of his tea.

* * *

It was almost sunset – not that the Sun would actually set in summer – when a pair of girls rode up to the Edelfelt homestead and ground their bikes to a halt at a shed a short way down the lane from the house. Marika took a single glance at the black Rolls-Royce parked near the shed.

"Who the…" she muttered before trailing off and looking at her house. "Luvia's here."

"My lady," Elsa began as she dismounted. "I shall stow both our bikes. You should go on ahead, and keep Lady Luviagelita from waiting any further."

Marika glanced at Elsa, thought about it for a moment, and then nodded in agreement. "Yes, I should do that." She said, also dismounting. She took the music books from her bike's basket before turning back to Elsa, the other girl pulling her bike alongside Marika's. "Luvia's probably going to be joining us for dinner. After you're done here, you should go and help your father in the kitchen."

"Very good, my lady." Elsa said with a bow. Marika nodded before heading back up the lane and then around the corner of the fence opening up the path to the front porch.

"I'm home." Marika called as she briskly walked through the living room, the gas lights on their lowest setting as a fire burned merrily in the fireplace. Marika replaced her music books back on a bookcase, before rushing up the staircase.

"Welcome home, Lady Marika." A bespectacled maid standing beside one of the guest room doors greeted Marika with a bow as she approached the second floor landing. The maid was tall, about five feet and nine inches tall, with long black hair tied back into a bun with evenly-cut bangs that reached down to just above her eyebrows. She wore a traditional maid's uniform, a dark-grey, long-sleeved dress with white cuffs and collar under a frilled white apron. A black ribbon was neatly tied around her neck.

"Adrianna," Marika said. "I'm guessing Luvia's resting?"

"Yes," the maid said with nod. "Lady Luviagelita is currently napping, but she said to be awakened upon your arrival, my lady."

Marika nodded. "Alright then," she said already turning to go to her room, which was opposite the guest rooms' side. "Have her come to my room once she's pulled herself together."

"Understood, my lady." Adrianna said with a bow, and with a nod Marika walked briskly to her room.

* * *

She'd barely finished stripping down to her underwear when there was a knock at the door. "If it's Luvia or Elsa or Adrianna," Marika said without turning from her closet. "Then go ahead and come in. Otherwise, please wait: I'm changing."

"There's my cue then." Luvia said cheerfully as she quickly slipped into the room, closing the door behind her. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Marika said cheekily, causing Luvia to laugh.

"Oh you're such a tease." She said, sitting down on Marika's bed.

"Maybe," Marika said, pulling on a short-sleeved, collarless shirt of light blue. Grabbing a comb at her dresser, she began to run it through her hair. "So to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Aw," Luvia said mockingly. "Straight to business already?"

Marika laughed. "Okay fine, you got me." She said, putting her comb down and turning to face Luvia. "How've you been?"

"Same old, same old," Luvia said with a wave of her hand. "Shame you couldn't come to Midsummer's though."

"What can I say?" Marika said apologetically. "Business is business. Hopefully though I can come to _Kekri_ or Christmas at least."

"I take it your trip to South America was fruitful then?"

Marika sighed heavily, causing Luvia's smile to turn sympathetic. "Business is business." Marika repeated. "I had to do it, though I don't have to enjoy it."

"Are you really alright though?"

"Yeah," Marika said with a wave of a hand. "I've gotten over the bile for the most part, and I'll probably forget about it – except when I really think about it – by summer's end at the latest."

"And the earliest?"

"There's a job coming up." Marika said, leaning against her closet. "Father and I have to go to Azerbaijan in about a week or so, to pick up a mark hiding somewhere in a mountain village. Nothing distasteful about it, it should drive South America out of my head once and for all."

"That's good to hear then." Luvia said, lying down on the bed, and stretching her bare arms over her head against the bed. Marika smiled at the sight, especially since Luvia had removed her sleeves. Though it might not appear so at her first glance, her elaborate blue and white dress actually had detachable sleeves, though Marika didn't really understand why.

It wasn't like the sleeves – which she knew for a fact fit well – hindered Luvia's mobility in any way.

"You really should have called ahead or something you know." Marika said, walking forward to sit beside Luvia's head. "Then you wouldn't have had to wait so long."

"It's fine." Luvia said, closing her eyes. "I rarely if ever get a chance to have a relaxing nap at either the main residence or the townhouse at Helsinki."

"Lazy, aren't we?" Marika teased, poking Luvia's side with an index finger.

Luvia jolted at that, and glared at her cousin. "Stop that." She said, and Marika grinned. What followed was a moderately-rough tussle that could be heard outside the door to the maids' concerned glances, and ending with a prone Luvia helplessly laughing as Marika sat astride her and running her fingers down Luvia's sides.

"Alright, alright, enough already, please!" Luvia playfully begged after a minute or so of helpless squirming and laughter. Marika laughed but obliged, nimbly rolling off Luvia to sit beside her as a gasping and red-faced Luvia rolled onto her back. "I…I'll get you back for this."

"Yes, I'm sure you will." Marika said, causing the blonde to laugh. "When did you get a tattoo though? And how did you persuade uncle to let you have one?"

"Oh these?" Luvia asked, raising her right arm marked with a trio of blue tattoos. "Heaven's Feel."

Marika's good mood went out like a light. "Please tell me you are not considering joining that blood sport." She said.

"I'm not considering it." Luvia said before briefly pausing. "I've already dispatched agents to Greece or rather the Crimea – which technically was in the Greek sphere in ancient times they got their grain from there if I remember right – to acquire a catalyst."

Marika's eye twitched. "Does your father and the clan council know?" she asked, and Luvia rolled her eyes.

"Of course they do." She said, to Marika's visible consternation. "You disapprove?"

"Of course I disapprove." She said. "It's a fucking blood sport!"

"Language, Marika." Luvia said. "And…okay I can't deny it's a blood sport. But the opportunity to gain the Holy Grail is something that can't simply be passed up."

Marika sighed, and mentally counted to ten. "Setting aside the fact that the Fuyuki Grail is a fake," she began. "And the philosophical worthlessness of wishes such as it is _purported_ to be able to grant, the success rate so far of actually completing the Grail is hardly a cause for confidence. The failure rate of the Heaven's Feel rituals is a hundred per cent, and the last time it was performed nine, ten years ago, it ended catastrophically with half the surrounding city burned to ash."

"But the chance of completing the Grail still exists." Luvia countered. "And while wishes are philosophically-worthless, realistically-speaking we can't ignore them, not if they can be actualized and be used to advance the family's magecraft."

Marika didn't answer at once, and when she did, she sighed first. "That's…a good point, I suppose." She admitted grudgingly before sighing again. "I'm guessing you want me to join you?"

"You don't want to?" Luvia asked, and Marika reeled back at the faintest hint of disappointment in her cousin's voice and bearing.

"No, I…that is…argh…" Marika fumbled before growling and roughly scratching her head in frustration. Luvia smiled softly at the sight. "Why me though?"

"Marjatta's unavailable as you well know." Luvia answered. "Apart from my father, there's no one who works as well with me as you."

Marika slightly lowered her head. "There are other magi more qualified," she said. "With better chances of winning the contest, than we are."

"True," Luvia said with a nod. "But you know as well as I do that I could never make up for the shame if I – the heiress of the main family – were to give my command spells to a proxy, even another main family member."

"The family's pride and the honor of the next generation demands you fight, eh?" Marika said before sighing. "Alright I understand that much. But is my affinity for you the only reason? Because if it is…"

"Frankly-speaking, there are other family magi in our generation that are better-skilled in magecraft than you." Luvia said as Marika trailed off. "But there's no one as skilled as me, except maybe Marjatta. And there's no one better at dealing with the unexpected, and fighting dirty, among our generation than you."

Marika chuckled at the hidden compliment and nodded. "I see." She said. "So that's how it is, then? You'll fight the good fight in the open, and I'll fight dirty in the shadows."

"Do you disapprove?"

"No," Marika said with a shake of her head. "I like it. With that said, seeing as the only reason we and not anyone else better qualified are going is because we need to show off – don't deny it that's basically it – we're going with only minimum support, that is the bare minimum or so of retainers that would be appropriate for our station, am I right?"

"Yes."

Marika sighed. "You can never have too much support." She said softly. "But operational realities like these happen all the time, and you have to deal with them. Alright, alright,"

Marika sighed again, and sat back against her pillows. The cousins sat in silence, though after a minutes there was a knock at the door. "What is it?" Marika asked.

"Dinner has been served, my lady." Elsa answered through the door.

"Alright, we'll be out soon." Marika said before turning back to Luvia. The two girls stared into each other's eyes, blue into blue, and then Marika smiled. "I'll consider it."

Luvia smiled. Though it wasn't an outright 'yes', she knew Marika well enough that it was as good as one. And besides, as Marika's father said, there was no way Marika would say no to Luvia, and may in fact steal away to Japan once she found out had Luvia not asked for her assistance.

"But, there's a condition."

Luvia blinked. "Name it, and I'll consider it." She said.

"Think it over again." Marika said. "The Heaven's Feel rituals are deathtraps with very low chances of success, so no one's going to blame us for not risking the clan heiress participating in the coming ritual. And I'd rather not see you die, or have you see me die, much less _both_ of us die knowing the rest of our family will never see us again."

Luvia reeled back, though she quickly gathered herself. "Magi walk with death…" she began shakily.

"Family is _everything_." Marika interrupted, her eyes as hard as sapphires, and Luvia subsided. She sat silent for a few moments, and then nodded slowly.

"Alright," she said softly. "I'll reconsider."

Marika nodded, but somehow, she just _knew_ that Luvia would still participate regardless.

Still she could hope.

* * *

A/N

Somewhat repetitive on certain points, but that's because they're all prime concerns be it for Luvia's personal maid/retainer, Alphonse, and of course Marika.

Marika might seem…un-magi, with her putting the family's happiness over the opportunity to advance the family's magecraft, but in a private setting I don't think it's very OOC for the Edelfelt to do so. Especially since El-Melloi Case Files reveal that the Edelfelt Clan is actually a leading member of the Meritocratic Faction of the Association, and are much looser when it comes to tradition compared to either the Aristocrats or the Researchers. The Meritocratic Faction is particularly characterized by their support for and sponsoring newer bloodlines, promising ideas, and as earlier mentioned, making exceptions to tradition.

In that light, an Edelfelt branch member advising her close, main family member (and future clan head) to prioritize the family's integrity over risking so much on an opportunity that has a very low chance of succeeding is well within the bounds of SoD. Which it is: all four previous Heaven's Feel rituals ended as complete and utter failures, not really a cause for confidence for the fifth ritual to actually succeed.

 _Kekri_ : Finnish harvest festival, usually in October or November.

Shout-out to another fic where Luvia/the Edelfelt play a major role, and Marjatta _is_ an actual Finnish name, much like Marika or Elsa or Adrianna Ilmarinen are. Edelfelt is also an actual Finnish surname.

Luviagelita though, is a case of 'So Long as It Sounds Foreign', though excusable on the basis that parents are known to give their children unusual names for one reason or another.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 3

"Lawrence Hook," Alphonse said, placing the man's profile down on the map table. "He's an information broker, he trades in 'facts': names, relationships, credit values – anything, anyone, anywhere there's a need or want to know, he has it…for the right price. Of course, he's not just an information broker, he's a _spell-caster_ who just so happens to have the same job in the sunlight as he does in the moonlight. Mysteries, mystic codes, ritual locations, etc., he's just as likely to know – somehow – and sell it to the right bidder."

"And from the sound of things, he sold out the wrong person or family." Marika remarked.

"Quite," Alphonse agreed. "Thing is he's too high profile. He has too many connections and too many people owe him for him to be cleanly cut off. Even this mission isn't directly-sponsored by the Association or the lords thereof: we're doing this through third-party intermediation."

Alphonse pulled closer a set of satellite images, and then with a grease pencil drew a circle around a certain point along the Caucasus, in the former Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic. "And even with that," he continued. "He still managed to get tipped off that someone put a price on his head, and he's run off to a safe house here, in Azerbaijan."

"Price on his head?" Marika echoed. "I thought our job was to capture him."

"No," Alphonse corrected. "That's the official line. But privately, during the contract-signing, the client re-specified the deal. Simply put: we kill him like a dog."

Marika nodded slowly. She wore a tight-fitting short-sleeved shirt of dark blue under a dark green flak vest, with blue and grey-pattered cargo pants and black combat boots. Elsa was dressed similarly nearby, as was Alphonse and the four other members of his team. Unlike Elsa and Marika though, their shirts had long-sleeves.

All of them wore heavy gloves, except for Marika. She wore gauntlets instead, the medieval-looking items looking out of place with her otherwise modern appearance.

The girl flicked her ponytail behind her head. "So?" she asked. "What's the plan?"

"Hook probably knows we're coming." Alphonse answered. "Not us specifically, or that we're out to kill him instead of capturing him, but he probably knows we're coming for him."

Alphonse indicated another satellite image, this one showing a relatively-large complex. Marika raised an eyebrow. "But the man is a coward." Alphonse continued. "He's not really that skilled of a spell-caster, and he won't risk trying to fight a full-fledged magus. With that said, the man an egoist. He won't run, especially not from his safe house until he knows for sure the enemy is at his gates and is breaking through. That way he can at least say that he didn't run from the start, but simply and smartly backed off against a stronger enemy at the last minute."

Marika nodded again. "What are we up against though?" she said. "That building looks large enough to hold a whole company, and there's only seven of us. Even with magic, against that many the outcome could hang in the air."

"Nothing so grandiose," Alphonse said, taking another file and handing it to Marika. "Just as we can't involve too many… _regular_ personnel, for the sake of secrecy, the same goes for Hook. Our information has him with about thirty-six or so mercenaries, of which twelve are always out on patrol outside the safe house complex."

Marika skimmed through the file before nodding again. "No spell-casters?" she asked.

"Our information suggests at least one, maybe two spell-casters are in Hook's employ." Alphonse said before narrowing eyes at Marika. "Be careful."

Marika nodded again. "I will." She said.

Alphonse turned back to the map, and indicated two points on the map. "Alpha Team will disembark here, and proceed overland to the safe house. ETA: forty-eight hours." He said, indicating the point in question and linking it with the target point with a broken line. "Rogue Team will _infiltrate_ here, and proceed overland to this point, and standby to provide sniper support. ETA: thirty-six hours."

Marika blinked. "Infiltrate?" she echoed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The enemy may have radar." Alphonse said with a shrug. "A basic, short-ranged one, but they probably do. Which is why you'll have to deploy chutes between five hundred and four hundred feet to avoid detection, but nothing higher. You'll need reinforcement to avoid injury, but it can be done."

"W-w-wait a minute…I haven't…I've never deployed chutes that low before!"

Alphonse smiled sadly. "First time for everything," he said. "In any case, I'm certain you can do it."

Marika didn't respond at once, but eventually she sighed and nodded. "Alright," he said. "I'm not particularly looking forward to the experience, but I'll do what I can."

Alphonse nodded. "Once we arrive at the target point," he said, turning back to the map. "Alpha Team will launch an attack from the front. Rogue Team will provide sniper support, and keep an eye out on enemy reinforcements, particular the squad out on forward duty. Hopefully we can get rid of them along the way, but if not then they'll be scrambling back once they discover we've launched an attack. When they do, suppress and take them out."

"Understood."

"In any case, while our objective is to kill Lawrence Hook, as I said, the man's a coward." Alphonse continued. "Once we start tearing through his defenses, he'll probably break and run. Most likely, via helicopter. Like that one over to the back."

"Should I disable it once the operation begins?"

"No."

Marika looked surprised at that. "Let him take off." Alphonse said. "And _then_ take out the helicopter. If he isn't killed in the crash, then even if he uses magic to reduce the damage he'll be wounded prey ripe for finishing."

"I see." Marika said with a slow nod. "If we disable the helicopter, he'll probably run through the woods or go to ground somewhere nearby, and we'll have to root him out."

"And he might even escape." Alphonse added. "I'd rather not fail this mission, do you?"

"Of course not: ten million divided by seven is worth going to all this trouble."

Alphonse smiled mockingly. "Mercenary." He shot at her.

"Story of our family, father."

Father and daughter laughed at that. "On another note," he said at length. "Considering your role in the plan, avoid getting discovered along the way. That means radio silence. Use optical signals to coordinate the start of the battle, but wait until we send the signal first."

"And how do I know it's you?"

"You'll know it's me."

Marika raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "In any case," Alphonse said. "Once Hook is dead the mission is done. We'll disengage and rendezvous at this point, ETA six hours. From here we proceed to this point, ETA seventeen hours. A helicopter will pick us up for transport back to Baku, and then we're home free. Any questions?"

There were none, and Alphonse nodded. "Good," he said, turning to leave the C-130's CIC for the cockpit. "In that case, just sit back and relax until we reach our deployment points."

* * *

The alarm began to scream and Marika stood up from her seat as Alpha Team did likewise, making last minute checks on their weapons and equipment, especially the parachutes they were wearing. "See you at the target point, father." Marika said, personally adjusting her father's parachute straps. "Good luck, and take care."

Alphonse nodded. "See you at the rendezvous point," he said, aware that while Marika would be able to see him through her scope, he wouldn't be able to do likewise. "Take care of yourself."

Marika nodded, and walking over to the wall, pulled a lever. A hatch opened along the Hercules' belly, depressing open until it was wide enough to allow people through. Pulling his goggles down, Alphonse drew himself up, and charged down the ramp before leaping clear. One by one the rest of Alpha Team did likewise, and then Marika reversed the lever, closing the hatch.

She glanced at Elsa. "We're up next." She said.

"Yes, my lady." Elsa replied with a nod.

Marika activated the intercom. "Pilot," she said. "How much longer until we reach Drop Point B?"

"Approximately twenty-five minutes, Lady Edelfelt."

"Understood."

"What should we do in the meantime, my lady?" Elsa asked.

"What we usually do prior to deployment," Marika said, sitting back and picking up the M107 that was usually her primary weapon on missions like this, and after checking it over for umpteenth time finally holstered it behind her.

Elsa looked on as her mistress checked her weapons and equipment, from her M107 and MP5 submachine gun to her Glock 17 sidearm, as well as grenades, ration packs, water bottle, smoke canisters, and other items she would need to carry on the battlefield. After a moment, Elsa did likewise, in particular making sure her specialized pair of 30.5cm daggers were within easy reach, holstered against her thighs.

* * *

The alarm screamed as the Hercules approached Drop Point B, Marika getting up and adjusting and checking her weapons and equipment. She turned to Elsa, just in time to see the other girl pull her goggles down over her eyes.

"Remember," she said. "We need to wait until we pass five hundred feet before we can deploy chutes. Watch your altimeter, we could run out of time and altitude really quick. And don't forget to reinforce yourself: deploying below five hundred feet would cripple all but the strongest, unreinforced Human bodies."

Elsa nodded. "Yes," she said. "I will remember, my lady."

Marika also nodded, pulling her goggles down before her eyes before pulling the lever. The hatch ground itself open, slowly but steadily, until it was wide enough to go through. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Marika jogged forward before leaping through the opening, Elsa just a few steps behind her.

At once, what nervousness she felt prior to the jump vanished, replaced at once by a heady but familiar mix of exhilaration and danger born of the weightlessness of free-fall. It was an intoxicating sensation, and brought to mind a quote by Leonardo da Vinci.

 _For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return._

It was true…to an extent: it'd been a while since her last para-drop, and she missed the sensation. But it wasn't something she particularly longed for, and indeed she had to be careful not to let it get to her head. If she did, well, she risked forgetting about the altitude and getting reduced to a pile of broken flesh and bone against the ground, reinforcement or not.

Glancing at her wrist-mounted altimeter, she glanced side to side until she found Elsa, and made several gestures. Elsa gestured back, and Marika nodded before turning back to the ground below.

Clouds flew by in white blurs as the pair free-fell spread-eagled, the Central Asian landscape stretching out before them in the afternoon Sun, colored in various shades of green, brown, and grey. Marika checked her altimeter again, and kept on doing so periodically, until it dropped below one thousand feet.

Marika gestured at Elsa, and grabbed her chute's deploy line, though she refrained from actually pulling it. Turning back to her altimeter, Marika kept a close eye on the numbers as they rapidly counted down.

 _947…882…801…771…762…712…693…677…642…612…600…591…555…542…510…500…_

The moment they passed the five hundred feet mark, Marika pulled her chute's deploy line and simultaneously reinforced her body. The sensation of the abrupt deceleration and inertia's effect thereof buffeting her body was drowned out by the familiar fire of prana burning through her circuits, as her body's physical attributes were boosted to superhuman levels by her reinforcement magecraft.

It took less than a half a minute to reach the ground, Marika jogging forward several steps as she landed hard and used the momentum to break the inertia. And then she was unclipping the chute, and used a deliberately-sabotaged reinforcement spell to cause the discarded chute to disintegrate at the molecular level.

She stowed her goggles, and turned to see Elsa unclipping her chute. "Destroy your chute." Marika said. "We can't bring it along, and neither can we salvage it. Let's leave as little evidence of our presence as possible."

Elsa nodded, and while she was disposing of her chute, Marika was taking stock of their surroundings. She and Elsa appeared to have landed on a rocky if grassy outcrop, with copses of trees nearby.

Marika waited until Elsa was done, and then holding her MP5 low but ready shared a glance with Elsa before making for the cover of one of the nearby copses. Once they were under cover, Marika crouched down, and pulling out a waterproof canister from one of her many pockets and straps, pulled out a laminated map of the area. A compass followed, and using the time and the position of the Sun as reference points along with the compass, determined their position more or less.

"Let's get moving." Marika said, as she stowed her map and compass away. "We've got thirty-six hours to get where we need to be, but that includes meals and sleep."

Elsa nodded, and Marika hefted her MP5. "Keep a sharp eye out." She said, checking the gun's chamber before leaping up and striding off, Elsa following in her wake as they made their way up the ridgeline.

* * *

The Moon was well on its way to its zenith that night when Marika and Elsa finally decided to stop for the night. And it was summer too, so calling it late would have been an understatement.

"Elsa," Marika said, looking out from behind a tree. "Get a fire going."

"But, might that not draw unwanted attention, my lady?" Elsa asked cautiously.

"I'll set up a few bounded fields." Marika said, pulling out gems while kneeling down and drawing a magic circle on the ground.

"I understand." Elsa said, already looking for rocks to border a fire pit.

It took more than a few minutes to set up the bounded fields to keep them safe for the night. The first field functioned as an 'anchor', meant to root the bounded fields placed on top of it and by synchronizing their operation optimize the collective prana draw on the Greater Source. It would also make taking any or all of them down more difficult than normal, as the fields would support each other's conceptual structure.

The second field operated on mental interference principles, meant to encourage anyone on approach from noticing anything within the field. It only operated at close range though, and of course it would have no effect on anyone or anything with magic resistance.

The third field was connected to the second, and also operated on mental interference principles. It worked by implanting the suggestion to 'go elsewhere' in the mind of anyone approaching, though like the second field, it would have no effect on anyone or anything with magical resistance.

The fourth field was more complex, and cloaked their location from being noticed by sight. The appearance of anything manmade was filtered out, the photons of reflected light – any light – that an eye picked up to see, were instead scattered by the field across its three-dimensional structure.

The fifth field was similar to the fourth, and was meant to cloak the location from being noticed by sound. It picked up the soundwaves of anything manmade, and absorbing the vibrations directly into itself, dispersed them into the ground.

The sixth field was also complex. It was meant to keep the location noticed by means of scent – such as those of hounds or other wild animals – by literally keeping any substance that could detected by such means trapped within the field.

The seventh field was a literal wall. It would keep anyone from simply walking into the location, though it would mean being noticed. Then again, if anyone could come that close given two of the other fields, it would mean they possessed magical potential, and thus a more serious threat than most.

The eighth field was simple. It was connected to the seventh, and was a mental alarm connected to Marika's mind. Given wild animals would avoid their location thanks to the second and third fields, there was however, no worry that she would be kept on her toes by false alarms.

The ninth field was meant to buy time for Marika and Elsa in case they were discovered. It was meant as a bomb, and either on command or the collapse of the other fields it would activate and like a whip violently blow the surrounding air back with a sudden, large-scale release of magical energy.

The tenth and final field was a simple one. It simply masked the prana draw on the Greater Source around them, further reducing the chances of detection, at least by magical means.

It slightly over half an hour before Marika was finished, the girl wiping the sweat from her forehead before refreshing her parched mouth with a drink of water from a canteen. In the meantime, Elsa had managed to clear and prepare a fire pit, gather wood and kindling, start a fire, and was now working on putting together a hot meal from their rations.

"Well," Marika said as she sat down against a nearby tree. "That should keep us safe for the night."

"Yes, my lady." Elsa with a smile. "You should rest a bit, my lady, while I prepare dinner. I shall wake you when it's done."

Marika chuckled before putting her head back. "There's an idea." She said while taking a deep breath, and then closed her eyes.

* * *

"Hey Elsa," Marika began over an hour later, after finishing their meal. "What do you think of the Holy Grail War?"

Elsa looked up with a surprised and concerned expression on her face, from where she'd been tending to the fire. "My lady," she began. "Are you perhaps considering participating in an upcoming Holy Grail War?"

Marika smiled softly. "So you disapprove?" she asked.

"It is a blood sport, my lady." Elsa said. "You should not have to lower yourself to participate in such an unbecoming event."

Marika chuckled. "Unbecoming?" she echoed. "To be honest, I find myself questioning whether or not there's any difference between a Holy Grail War and what we do for a living, much like what we're doing right now."

"My lady,"

Marika held up a hand. "Don't worry." She said. "I understand quite well there's a world of difference between what we do and the mess for that filthy tin cup in Fuyuki. For one thing, the former provides keep for our family, and in many cases opportunities to put mysteries to the test in ways that cannot be done in a laboratory, insights to new mysteries yet unexplored, and of course, the 'acquisition' of new mysteries from the spoils of war. The Holy Grail War? It's just selfish bloodshed and violence all so a single pair of individuals may gain access to a supposedly-omnipotent wish-granting machine."

Marika chuckled, and turned to Elsa. "What do you think, Elsa?" she asked.

"It's as you say, my lady." Elsa replied. "Furthermore, the claim of the Fuyuki Grail to be an 'omnipotent wish-machine' is false from the very onset, as it is known that the wishes it grants do not extend into the realms of True Magic. Were it truly all-powerful, that would not be the case."

"And there's also the fact that each and every attempt to use the Grail over the past two centuries has ended in complete and utter failure to boot."

"As you say, my lady."

Master and servant sat silent, apart from the crackling of the fire and the sound of insects all around them. After several moments, Marika sighed. "Luvia is planning to enter the next Holy Grail War." She said.

"Lady Luviagelita?"

Marika nodded. "I've managed to convince her to reconsider, but as things stand, between her pride as a magus and as the next clan head I suspect she will enter the war in the end." She said glumly.

"My lady,"

"If that happens," Marika said. "I'm going to have to accompany her. Even if she hadn't asked me, I'd accompany her. I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror if I let her go alone, or even with another one of our cousins. Especially considering how close we are. The shame could never be atoned for."

Elsa didn't say anything, but after a few moments Marika looked at her. "Go ahead," she said. "Say what's on your mind, Elsa."

"As your retainer, I would advise you, my lady, not to allow your personal emotions cloud your judgment on the matter." Elsa said neutrally, and causing Marika's eyes to widen and then narrow with shock and anger. "Please keep your responsibilities to your immediate family in mind."

Stunned silence fell, Marika stonily glaring at Elsa, who kept up the façade of neutrality. And then Elsa blinked, and smiled. "But as your friend," she said. "Then I would say do what's right, Lady Marika."

Marika kept stonily looking on for a few more moments, and then she too blinked and smiled. "You had me worried there for a moment, Elsa." She said. "It almost seemed like you weren't the girl I grew up with in my own house. Yes, you're right. I have to do what's right, and that's sticking with Luvia to the end of this whole sordid affair."

Elsa bowed, and Marika fidgeted as she sat up from her previously more comfortable position. "Well," she said. "Enough about that. We have a long day tomorrow. I'll take first watch."

"My lady, I…"

"No, you made dinner." Marika interrupted. "You should get some rest, you deserve it. I'll wake you up for second watch, don't worry."

"But, if I do take second watch, that means you'll be taking third watch, and prepare breakfast to boot. That's…"

"That's how shifting works, Elsa." Marika interrupted again, before gently making shooing gestures. "Now, go get some rest. That's an order."

Elsa sighed, and nodded. "I understand." She said reluctantly. "But if I may say so, don't push yourself, my lady."

Marika nodded, and Elsa walked off to slouch comfortably against a nearby tree before trying to get some sleep. Once she was, Marika got up, and walking out of the firelight but staying in sight of the camp, leaned against and in the shadow of a tree, concealed but with a watchful eye out.

* * *

Marika and Elsa carefully peered down the hillside from behind the tangled bushes that covered the ridgeline. "There isn't supposed to be a village here." Elsa said.

"No, there isn't." Marika agreed, checking her map. "But we're not in the wrong place either. All the other landmarks check out. Which means, that that village down there's been abandoned for so long modern maps don't put it down anymore."

Elsa nodded, and looking back down the village reinforced her eyes to zoom in and enhance the image. "I'd say from the architecture it was built back in Soviet times." She said. "Not sure when though…contact!"

"What?" Marika snapped, looking back to the village and reinforcing her eyes as well. "Well, I guess we found the enemy's scouts."

"What should we do?" Elsa asked. "Should we wait for them to pass?"

Marika didn't answer at once, watching as the mercenaries below went about their business. They carried AK-74s, and one even had what looked like an RPG holstered behind his back. Most of them wandered around alone, stances relaxed but wary, but a few were moving in pairs. And in the distance, she saw a couple of them cooking something in a field pot over a campfire.

"Shit," Marika said. "From the look of things they'll be sticking around for a bit."

Pulling back, she checked her map and the surrounding geography. After a couple of minutes, she shook her head. "No good," she said. "This area here is unpassable, at least not for anyone heavily-laden down. Here's not so bad, but the terrain will force us up first before we can get here and back to our route. It'll take too long."

"We'll have to take them out then." Elsa said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes, we have to." Marika said. "Still, let's do it quietly, and avoid giving the enemy something to radio back on, or indeed, the chance to. Knives and pistols only, and silence the latter."

Elsa nodded, and as Marika pulled out her sidearm and screwed the silencer on, did likewise.

* * *

"…so I told her, Tasha love, if you expect me to shell out rubles for a new kitchen set, you better think otherwise."

"And what did Natasha say?"

"Nothing, she just up and left. She'll be back though, I'm sure of it. She always does every time she leaves."

The two mercs manning the soup pot shared a laugh at that, and at the sound of something heavy landing nearby turned as one. And as one, crumpled in the same breath, Marika's knife buried in the forehead of one, and the other with a nine millimeter through his brain.

Marika jogged forward in a crouch, and pulled the dagger out. Cleaning it on the man's clothes, she stowed the blade before stalking over to the doorway. She'd snuck across the clearing around the village and down a few blocks to the roofless building the mercs were using as a field kitchen, and climbing up and over the wall gotten the drop on them.

Reinforced ears picked up the sound of an approaching merc, and Marika stilled herself until she just knew she had a clear shot. In a smooth and fluid movement, she slipped from behind cover, took aim, and put a bullet into another man's head. As his corpse tumbled to the ground, she sprang forward and past, down the corridor and out of the house.

* * *

Elsa carefully clambered over the half-broken roof of a building, and looked down into an alley where a man was cheerfully relieving himself. Swallowing the bile down, she quietly slipped down behind him, and grabbing him from behind buried her knife in his neck before he could respond.

As the man went limp, she pulled the knife out and let him fall. Wiping the bloody weapon, she stowed it, and running back down the alley looked out. The street was clear, and she crossed the street to take cover behind another alley's corner.

She narrowed her eyes as she heard movement, and keeping a low profile saw a pair of men walk out into the open. Taking a deep breath, stepped out of cover and fired one, twice, three times.

The first two shots took one of the men down with headshots, but the third shot struck the second man in the chest, staggering him but leaving him unhurt thanks to his flak vest. Cursing, Elsa fired twice more, the bullets punching through the man's throat and face, and causing him to collapse gurgling.

Elsa waited for a moment, and then ran over down the street to a corner. Looking around, she noted the lack of anyone in the open either way, broken windows and empty doorways mournfully and silently gaping at the street. But as Elsa took a step, there was an explosion in the distance, and her eyes widened.

 _Lady Marika!_

* * *

A/N

Call of Duty: Nasuverse-style.

Guest: No, she doesn't live in a hunting lodge, though it might seem that way. It's much too big to be a hunting lodge. As for her history with the Tohsaka, that's for me to know, and for you to find out.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 4

"Shit, shit, shit!" Marika swore floridly, crouched behind a large pile of rubble which shook as Russian bullets poured against it like rain. "Shit!"

Placing a hand against the ground, she pulsed her prana once through the ground which combined with her Sorcery Trait allowed her to pinpoint the mercs shooting at her. Taking a deep breath, Marika checked her MP5's chamber before lifting it overhead, aimed clumsily behind her. She fired a three-round burst once, twice, three times, and was rewarded with a shout of pain and angry cries and curses from the Russians.

As well as a renewed onslaught from the Russian guns, of course.

" _Only one?_ " Marika thought angrily. " _Damn it, even with reinforcement my accuracy is shot to hell like this!_ "

Again, Marika pulsed out her prana through the ground. A moment later, and she began swearing again. Apparently, the man she'd clipped was still around.

There was a sound of metal bouncing on the ground, a grenade rolling to a halt nearby. A tossed stone knocked it away, the grenade exploding harmlessly a good distance away. " _There's only three of them_ ," Marika thought darkly, reloading her MP5. " _But one of them has a bloody machine gun! And that one is enough to suppress me!_ "

 _The sentry looked around a couple of times, peering through the broken window, and then moved on. As he turned away from the window, an upside-down girl dropped down from the ceiling where she'd hooked her legs against a beam, and fired once with a silenced pistol._

 _The nine millimeter punched through the man's head at such close range, spraying blood and brain matter out the other side as the corpse tumbled sideways to lie limp across the ground. Marika coiled like a spring, and then unhooking her legs flipped back to land in a crouch on the ground…_

… _and glanced sharply at the window at the sound of an alarmed voice and boots running up the street. A hand pressed against and a burst of prana through the ground had her cursing and jumping up at the ceiling again._

 _Outside, a man ran up to the man Marika recently killed, and knelt down to check while keeping his AK-74 raised and ready. Swearing in Russian followed, the man lowering his weapon to chest level as he rose and raised a hand to his micro-bead._

 _As he barked into his micro-bead, Marika jumped out from the alley beside the house, twisting through the air as she aimed her gun. Fire ripped through her body and circuit-like patterns flashed over exposed flesh as she reinforced herself, allowing her to aim and fire at superhuman speeds._

 _She fired once, twice, three times, three bullets burying themselves into the Russian's head, which all but exploded in a plume of blood, flesh, and bone. Marika herself landed hard on her side against the ground, and quickly pushed herself up and forward into a crouching position behind the nearest corner._

 _For a few moments she stayed there, waiting tensely for anything or anyone, but when nothing materialized she relaxed a fraction. Peering out from behind cover, she looked up and down the street before jogging diagonally across the street to another corner._

 _As she caught her breath, she took stock of her or well,_ _ **the**_ _situation._

 _Their cover was blown, hopefully theirs alone, and not including her father's team. Even if the mercs here warned Hook and his guards that there were hostiles in the area, they'd assume Marika and Elsa were the only ones._

 _Still, they'd be on their guard now, and it burned at her to know that the mission had been botched to this extent._

 _Once again, Marika peered out from behind the corner, and checking her pistol's clip jumped up to the roof. Remembering the layout of the village from earlier, Marika began leaping over the roofline to where the mercs had parked the truck they'd come in with…and with it, their long-range radio._

 _If she could take that out,_ _ **before**_ _they could report the situation, then maybe she could still salvage the mission's cover._

" _Though," she found herself thinking as she jumped from roof to roof. "Once this squad fails to report in when they have to – if they have to – Hook and his men might realize something's up. Might…hopefully, they'll just think this squad just forgot to check in."_

 _Marika growled at the thought, but continued on her way regardless. Finally, she arrived at her destination…just as a pair of mercs rushed down into the open-air atrium below. Marika aimed her pistol, an Austrian-made Glock 17, but just as she was about to pull the trigger the floor beneath her gave way, the young girl falling through the roof with a shriek of surprise._

 _And not just the roof either: as she slammed into the second floor, the floor buckled, the wooden flooring cracking and breaking beneath her weight and the force of impact. Marika hastily tried to get clear, only for the floor to give way as she got to her feet._

 _She didn't shriek this time, though she did grunt and groan as she slammed hard onto the hard cement of the ground level floor. Thankfully, her reinforcement held, otherwise she would have more than dazing to deal with._

 _As it was, she quickly rolled to one side, facing the door, and raised her gun just as a merc rushed in. Marika emptied her pistol's clip, peppering the man's chest and staggering him, before a pair of bullets tore his neck out and a final round blew off most of his jaw._

 _Marika rushed forward, reloading her pistol as she did so. Taking cover behind the wall beside the door, she peered out…_

… _and promptly slipped back behind cover as the other merc opened up with his AK-74 on full auto. Swear words could be heard shouted over the roaring of the gun, and then the latter cut out as the merc's rifle ran out of ammo._

 _Marika dashed out, and fired a few times. No good: the merc took cover behind the truck's bulk, nine millimeter rounds splattering harmlessly against its exterior. Cursing, Marika went behind cover again, and after a moment the AK-74 roared once more._

 _And then it cut out, well before it should have expended a full clip. That could mean one of four things: the AK had jammed, or the merc was advancing slowly._

 _The merc could even be using the lull in shooting to lure her out. Or, he was about to throw a grenade._

 _Taking a deep breath, Marika peered out, her reinforced body holding and aiming steady while moving with superhuman speed. And as she feared, the man's hand was drawn back, about to throw a ball grenade._

 _Marika adjusted her aim with superhuman precision, and pulled the trigger, the nine millimeter flaring out to hit the ball grenade in the man's hand. It exploded, blowing the merc himself apart. It was and should have been fine irony…_

… _if only it didn't blow up the truck as well._

 _The resulting explosion blew much of the surrounding building into rubble, and sent a plume of smoke and fire up into the air. It also sent Marika flying, not just across the room but through the whole house, the same reinforcement that kept her alive, kept her relatively-uninjured despite being right next to the explosion, allowing her to endure the impact of being blown through two walls and tumbled across the street beyond._

 _Groaning and shaking her head, Marika pulled herself together, just in time to notice three men run up and around a nearby corner. They gaped at the ruined building, and noticing Marika levelled their rifles._

 _Marika swore as she rolled clear, barely avoiding the first salvo. And then she rolled again, deftly jumping behind a pile of rubble as they followed her with their fire. Two of them, that is._

 _The third merc wasn't carrying an AK-74. No, he was carrying a PK Machine Gun. And after a few moments after getting behind cover, Marika heard the roar and felt the bullets striking her cover as the third merc set up and opened up with his machine gun._

" _Just how much nitro was in that truck?_ " Marika thought angrily as she thought back to how she got into this current situation in the first place. " _And why the hell were they running around with that much nitro anyway?_ "

Another grenade landed nearby, and Marika altered the ground to pitch it back overhead. The firing stopped as shouts of alarm broke out, along with the sound of men scrambling away. Moments later, and there was an explosion. "Fuck this shit," Marika swore as she checked her MP5's chamber again, before simultaneously saying her aria and pumping prana into her crest. "Maximum Relativity!"

At once, the world slowed down, everything moving twice as slow as she jumped out from behind cover. The three Russian mercs were rushing back into firing position, but with Maximum Relativity active it was like watching mimes in slow motion.

Marika closed in to point-blank range, and swept all three men with her MP5 at full auto. Blood sprayed slowly through the air, almost like watching it bloom in water, and then with a thought shut the spell down.

At once, the world returned to normal, blood spraying on the street and walls and debris behind the three men as they tumbled to the ground. Marika's legs and body twitched and the girl staggered, the World forcing her to 'pay' the temporal debt left from accelerating her time by a factor of two relative to the World's.

Even so, Marika was still fast enough to level and hold steady her MP5 as she sensed movement, causing Elsa to step back just as she arrived, long-bladed daggers held loosely and in the air. "Elsa," Marika said, before relaxing and lowering her gun.

At once, Elsa rushed forward to help her mistress. "Are you alright, my lady?" she asked.

"I'll be fine." Marika said, taking a deep breath and wiping at her forehead. "It'll take more than getting blown through a house and using Maximum Relativity to keep me down."

Marika took a drink from her canteen before stowing it. "Did we get them all?" she asked.

"I'm not sure my lady." Elsa replied. "I've taken out three…"

"And I've taken out eight." Marika said. "That makes a total of twelve, which is about the size of a typical full-strength squad."

Elsa was silent for a moment, and then pressed on. "Can we assume then that we got them all?" she asked.

Marika was silent for a moment afterwards, and then slowly shook her head. "No," she said. "I'd rather not risk that. Still, let's not tempt fate and split up again. Let's check if this village is clear, and then keep moving."

"Yes, my lady."

* * *

The Sun was already beginning to descend towards the horizon when Marika and Elsa set out again. Marika pulled a ration bar from a pocket and opened it before beginning to eat. "Not really a proper lunch," she said after swallowing her first bite. "But let's not waste more time than we already have."

"Yes, my lady." Elsa said.

Marika glanced at her. "Not hungry?" she asked.

Elsa smiled and shook her head. "No," she said. "It's just that it might be best if one of us had their hands not occupied while the other is having their meal on the go."

"Yes, that makes sense." Marika said with a nod, biting at the ration bar. She chewed and swallowed. The two of them marched in silence, making their way through the rocky, Central Asian landscape, walking under the shadows of the canopy overhead.

Marika finished her bar, and stuffed the used wrapping into a pocket before taking a drink from her canteen. "Sorry to make you wait for a bit," she said, stowing the canteen before pulling out her map. "But, I need to check our position."

"It's no trouble at all, my lady."

Marika studied the map for a minute or so, and then with a nod rolled it up before returning it into its casing, which she stowed with the rest of her gear. "There's a stream some way up ahead." She said. "We'll pause to replenish our water supplies there before continuing."

"Yes, my lady."

Marika hefted her MP5, and checked the chamber before glancing over a shoulder at Elsa. "My hands are free now," she said. "Your turn, Elsa. I can't have you stumbling about from hunger later on, just in case things turn south."

"Very well, my lady." Elsa said, releasing her MP5 before rummaging through her gear to pull out a ration bar of her own.

"I think we'll do a forced march tonight." Marika said after a few moments. "We should be able to reach the target point just before midnight, enough for us to get a shift each of sleep before the operation begins. Also, it would also give us time – about an hour – to get something hot to eat at that stream later on."

Elsa nodded, swallowing before responding. "Understood, my lady." She said.

* * *

As planned, Marika and Elsa reached their target point, the rocky crest of a tall hill overlooking Lawrence Hook's estate some distance below from the north, shortly before midnight. The climb up was rather hard and even dangerous, with Elsa nearly falling to serious injury or even death at one point when the stone broke beneath her hands.

Despite having had a hot meal at dusk, both girls were hungry by the time they climbed onto the crest, and rather moody and weary in equal measure from the climb. "Set up the rifle." Marika ordered, tossing the M107 Anti-Materiel Rifle to Elsa, followed by the rest of its wrapped-up gear. "In the meantime, I'm going to set up the bounded fields."

"Yes, my lady." Elsa said, the girl moving quietly and covertly to set up the rifle towards the estate beyond. It was a large, rectangular complex, with an open-air atrium in the middle, and with the east side of the rectangle open and leading towards a helipad that sat on the edge of a small lake fed by mountain streams. A Russian Mil Mi-24 _Hind_ Helicopter sat on the helipad.

A tall tower rose from the building facing their position, and what looked a roofed, narrow porch extended out from the building to the right, facing west. Most of its windows and the external lights were dark, but a few were lit, including the top of the tower.

"That watchman of theirs is rather inexperienced, or something along that line, my lady." Elsa observed, briefly pausing to pull out her binoculars before looking out at the complex in the distance.

Marika waited until she'd finished setting up the fourth bounded field over their position before turning to Elsa. "What makes you say that?" she asked.

Elsa smiled softly. "His lights are on." She said. "That means he's got no night vision, and probably won't be seeing much from there."

"Oh?" Marika said. "If you were in his place, what would you have done?"

"I'd have kept the lights out." Elsa replied, putting down her binoculars before turning to face her mistress. "And with the Moon rather bright tonight, between reinforcing my eyes and using a pair of binoculars I should be able to keep better watch than he would."

"That's because you're a spell-caster." Marika said. "That watchman doesn't have your abilities. Speaking of which, what would you do in his place, without your abilities?"

"Night vision goggles would be useful."

Marika laughed and after a moment Elsa joined in. "Fair enough," she said, waving it off. "Anyway, I see you've finished setting up the rifle, so keep an eye out until I finish setting up the bounded fields."

"Yes, my lady."

Marika nodded and turned back to her bounded field. Before she resumed though, she paused to look back at Elsa. "Thanks." She said.

"My lady?"

"That bit of short talk and laugh just now," Marika said, tossing a gem up and down with one hand. "It really let out a lot of tension from climbing this damn hill. So thanks."

Elsa blinked and then bowed lightly. "You are welcome, my lady." She said, and Marika nodded before resuming placing down the bounded fields.

* * *

Alphonse Edelfelt and the rest of Alpha Team took cover near the tree line's edge, carefully peering around trunks and bushes at the façade of Lawrence Hook's retreat. The interior lights were out, leaving the windows dark and sightless. A light was lit at the foyer however, and reinforced eyes – or indeed, anyone with good night vision – could see the CCTV looking down at the door, and at the corners of the house.

"Do you think we can catch them by surprise, Al?" one of Alphonse's men – a grizzled mercenary who'd fought with him many times over the years – asked.

"Not completely, no." Alphonse replied. "But if we move fast enough, we might as well have. Take out those cameras, while one of gets over to that door, and attaches a blasting charge."

"That should catch anyone guarding the door by surprise." The man agreed. "If we're lucky it'll take one or more with the door."

"Quite,"

"But," the man continued. "Once we take out those cameras, the rest of them will know something's up."

"Well," Alphonse said with a grunt, pulling back behind the tree and leaning against it. "No one ever said things would be easy. Besides, we've been through worse. Remember Myanmar?"

There was murmur of disgusted agreement about the job from a decade ago, which ended with them running to and over the Thai border with a battalion from the _tatmadaw_ hot on their heels. And that wasn't even counting _what_ they'd run into and had to do in that godforsaken country.

"Right," Alphonse said while creeping over to where he could see in the distance where Rogue Team should be positioned by now. "Anyway, we've got a job to do so let's get to it. Let's check our gear one last time and get in touch with Rogue Team and then let's go in."

As the rest of Alpha Team checked their gear, Alphonse settled down and pulled out a small flashlight. Aiming at the crest of the hill in the distance, he flashed a signal in Morse code.

 _Lapland flowers bloom beautifully in the summer._

There was a short pause. And then, a few moments later, a reply flashed from the hill, also in Morse Code.

 _Starlight and Moonlight dance joyfully over the winter wonderland._

Alphonse smiled. " _Nice to hear from you, Rogue One._ " He signaled.

" _Likewise, Alpha Leader._ " The reply flashed.

" _Standby,_ " he signaled. " _Operation to begin shortly._ "

" _Roger._ "

Alphonse crept back to the rest of Alpha Team, and checking his gear shared a look with the rest of his team, one by one. He nodded, and they nodded back.

Lowering his MP5, Alphonse pulled out a blasting charge and attached a line to it. "On my mark," he said, crouching in the house's direction. "One, two, three: MARK! Maximum Relativity!"

MP5 SMGs spat in semi-auto, blowing CCTVs to pieces. At the same Alphonse flashed over to the door, and attached the charge around the doorknob before flashing back.

He gasped and staggered as he ended the spell, but holding himself together lifted his MP5 even as the charge went off. "GO!" he barked, leading the charge into the house.

* * *

"Alpha Team is going in." Elsa said, her binoculars pressed to her eyes as she sat crouched next to Marika, who was lying prone behind her M107.

"Noted," Marika said as she pulled the trigger, noting with satisfaction the lookout falling out of the tower. If he wasn't killed by her shot, then the fall certainly would have. "There's our first catch of the day."

Elsa giggled. "That's so mean, my lady." She said. "Likening the enemy to fish to be caught."

"Maybe," Marika conceded. "More than that though, there doesn't seem to be enemies out in the open, nor might they have any inclinations to go out into the open. At this rate we won't be able to help out much."

"Please be patient, my lady." Elsa said. "The battle has only just begun."

"True," Marika said, an eye still pressed against the rifle's scope. Minutes passed, slowly flowing along like molten caramel. And then…

"Enemy movement," Elsa said sharply. "They're crossing the atrium from the north to the south building. Also, gunfire inside the south building, behind the windows: watch your fire."

"Got it." Marika said, pulling the trigger and working the bolt while aiming at another enemy. She fired again, then worked the bolt while aiming at another target. The three remaining mercs out in the open milled around uncertainly after two of their own went down.

That would be their undoing.

One of them went down from another of Marika's shots, and the remaining two bolted for the south building. Marika shot one dead as he tried to break the big, floor-to-ceiling windows with the butt of his gun, but the bullet shot through his body and shattered the window.

The remaining merc noticed this, and rather than try and break a closer window tried to jump through the already broken one. Had he done otherwise, he might have gotten to cover before Marika could fire.

As it was, all he did was give her time to work the bolt, aim, and fire. The merc's corpse fell forward, onto the glass-strewn floor.

"And that's another enemy Alpha Team doesn't have to deal with." Marika said, working the bolt. And then the rear of the west building blew out in a plume of fire, and Marika's eyes widened.

"Father."

* * *

Alphonse had to say he had expected this development.

It was after all, _too easy_ , to storm through the foyer with only five men in their way, two of which had been dazed and disoriented by the door's explosion. So when they burst out of the foyer into a large room beyond, a powerful plume of fire with the telltale markers of Fire Elemental Magecraft surging at them was not something that caught them by surprise.

And of course, he already knew that Lawrence Hook had a spell-caster in his employ. Surprise attack too, was a basic tactic, especially in the form of an ambush.

As it was, it took only a thought to feed prana into the ring he wore on one hand, and bracing himself punched the blast of fire. The explosion blew back, blackening and cracking the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out to the east over the atrium, buckling their frames, and scorching the wooden floorboards and furniture along the way.

The spell-caster who'd launched the attack though, while staggered was rather unhurt, if singed. "I'll take care of this." Alphonse growled to his team. "Follow the tactical plan."

"Let's move!" one of his men shouted, running past and heading for the south building. The spell-caster ignored them, keeping his eyes on Alphonse who tugged at the smoldering, blackened remains of the glove over his right hand, and threw it on the ground. A couple of moments later, and the left glove followed.

"So," Alphonse began. "Shall we get started?"

The spell-caster smiled. "Yes, perhaps we should." He said. "But before that, I have to say those were pretty sharp reflexes, and impressive spell-work on your end. I haven't met anyone capable of deflecting my flames before."

"First time for everything," Alphonse snapped. "So, what's your name? Or will we kill each other without knowing who we are?"

"Before asking others for their names shouldn't you give yours first?" the spell-caster replied.

"Alphonse Edelfelt."

The spell-caster blinked, looked awed, and then nodded respectfully. "Ah," he said. "A worthy opponent then. I have the honor of being Julian Strauss of New England. Nothing too distinguished as your lineage, but I daresay I have ample confidence in my skills compared to yours."

Alphonse cracked his neck, his body tensing. "We shall see." He said.

Julian's eyes narrowed. "Yes," he said. "We shall."

A moment passed like an eternity, and then things went to high speed. Alphonse quickly pulled up MP5, and pulled the trigger. Julian dodged to one side, avoiding the three-round bursts Alphonse was shooting at him, while raising his hand and firing a dart-like blast of fire.

Alphonse dodged, but Julian was waiting for that, the second burst following the older man's predicted movement and striking his gun, melted it to slag. "For shame, my lord." Julian began. "A bloodline as…"

He broke off as Alphonse silently followed through, Gandr shots firing from an index finger. Julian avoided the dark projectiles, which struck the walls as the two of them moved quickly parallel to each other in a circle, each with enough force to leave deep pockmarks on the wall.

Julian counterattacked, unleashing powerful bursts of fire that Alphonse batted aside with his right hand, the ruby on the ring he wore flashing each time he did so. "Impressive," Julian said. "Let's up the ante, shall we?"

Alphonse's eyes narrowed as Julian fired another blast, this time of blue-colored flame. He tried to bat it aside…

…only to be sent flying by the concussive force of the blast. The heat also, while blunted by his mystic code, was enough to sing him slightly.

Julian followed through, firing off blast after blast in quick succession. Alphonse narrowly dodged, counterattacking with Gandr before throwing a jewel. He then shot the jewel, the explosion sending out a wall of kinetic force that blew Julian off his feet.

Alphonse tossed a jewel onto the ground, and slammed a foot down on it. Prana flared across the ground, and then suddenly the wooden floor seemed to _melt_ , at least around the surprised Julian, who found himself sinking into the floor before it solidified around him.

The man roared with frustration before the wood around him exploded, and jumping out _breathed fire_ at Alphonse. "Now that's just plain tacky." Alphonse said, leaping clear before throwing another jewel.

"I don't think so!" Julian shouted shooting another blast of fire that struck the jewel just as Alphonse's Gandr hit it.

The explosion of kinetic force that followed sent both men flying, only Alphonse went through the bar and the liquor cabinet, while Julian was only slammed against a wall. The latter recovered first, and with a shout of triumph charged and fired a powerful blast.

Alphonse's eyes went wide, and Julian smiled in triumph. And then Alphonse dove forward, sliding just above the floor and below the blast, which exploded behind him. Rolling forward onto a crouch, he opened fire with both Gandr and his sidearm, forcing Julian to dodge to the side.

Alphonse got to his feet, moving parallel to Julian as he kept up his weight of fire, and then the pistol jammed. Briefly distracted, this gave Julian the opportunity to counterattack, breathing another stream of fire at the older magus from his mouth.

Alphonse batted it aside, and then a blast of blue fire knocked him back. "It's over, Edelfelt!" Julian shouted in triumph, charging and firing a blast of fire that overwhelmed Alphonse, and blew out the windows to the atrium beyond.

* * *

A/N

Call of Duty: Nasuverse continues, though I won't extend it for more than two chapters after this. Then, well, we'll see.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 5

Julian laughed loudly as the flames and heat died down for the most part, apart from the wooden furniture and window frames, which continued to burn. "I guess that's that, is it not, my lord?" the spell-caster said. "And to think you are one of the prestigious Edelfelt Clan. I expected more from you, and yet I didn't need to use more than single-action spells to defeat you. Perhaps the Edelfelt aren't nearly as powerful as they appear to be, or perhaps,"

Julian paused and tilted his head, looking out the broken windows at the atrium beyond, at the sooty shape lying on the ground. "You're not really an Edelfelt." He finished before shaking his head. "If so, then death would be a mercy. Name theft is a very serious crime, especially among old magi families. And the Edelfelt are well connected in the Mages Association. Retribution would be swift and terrible."

Julian sighed and made to walk away. "Still," he said as he began to walk away. "I suppose you gave enough for a good workout, so you deserve a proper burial at least. Once I deal with the rest of your friends, I'll see you get your due. I give my word."

…

…

…

"…do you really think the fight's over?"

Julian's eyes widened with shock and surprise, and he whirled to see a soot-covered Alphonse jump up into a crouch, the older man's flak vest charred in many places, his clothes, hair, and beard badly-singed, and exposed skin clearly burned to the first degree, but ultimately unaffected to any real extent by Julian's earlier attack. And more than that, his right arm was drawn back, the fingers of his hand curled into a fist, and the ruby on his ring glowing bright and sharp as a star.

He punched the ground, which buckled and broke with the sharp sound of breaking rock. Cement broke in a fast-moving line towards Julian, scorched and blackened wooden flooring shattering to splinters as the crack reached the building and kept on going.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Julian dove to the side to avoid taking the spell head on, likely capable of stripping his flesh right down to the bone…and right into Alphonse's line of fire. The older man's left hand was raised with a vaguely-throwing gesture, and again, Julian's eyes widened as orange light built up in the hollow of Alphonse's hand.

It flashed, and then a jet of brightly-burning fire lanced out blindingly-fast. Julian rolled to the side, avoiding the jet which was hot enough to distort the surrounding air and ignite the wooden floor. Even Julian had to actively increase his heat resistance with his Fire Elemental Magecraft to avoid getting burned.

The jet struck the back wall, and sent up another explosion that plumed out into the atrium, and through the ceiling into the upper floor. As the smoke and debris cleared, a soot-coated Julian staggered into view, looking at Alphonse incredulously. "How?" he whispered.

"Good question," Alphonse coolly replied before quickly charging and firing another jet. And another, and then another, explosions gutting the west building again and again as Julian tried to avoid getting barbecued or blown to bits by the magus.

"How?" he finally demanded in a roar. "Edelfelt are supposed to be Jewel users, and with a family affinity for the Earth Element!"

Alphonse rolled his eyes while keeping up the barrage. "Even spell-casters like you should be able to figure it out." He said. "It's rather simple."

Another explosion knocked Julian to his knees, the ragged-looking man glaring up at Alphonse with hate-filled eyes. Alphonse tilted his head, and lowered his arm. "You," Julian rasped after a few moments. "You're not an Edelfelt…either in full, or in part."

"Well done," Alphonse said, applauding mockingly before wiping at his face, clearing some of the soot off with the back of his hand. "You are correct: my mother was _not_ an Edelfelt, and thanks to her and my _Edelfelt_ father I gained _two_ elemental affinities."

Alphonse paused and narrowed his eyes. "You should be able to understand what affinities those are, aren't you?"

Julian continued to glare, gritting his teeth, while Alphonse looked on silently for several moments. And then he spread his arms, smiling tauntingly at the spell-caster. "Your turn." He said.

Julian's eyes widened, and then narrowed, the spell-caster growling at the mockery. "D-don't," he rasped as he staggered to his feet. "You…you have no right to mock me…you…you…you damn Edelfelt half-breed! You're no better than me, using guns and modern tactics instead of relying on spells and antiquated tactics like the rest of your kind!"

Alphonse snorted and laughed. "I have no reason to explain myself to the likes of you." He said, before tilting his head again. "Is ranting all you can do, and is it my turn yet?"

Julian screamed, a magic circle flaring around his feet. After a moment two more appeared, one to the left and to the right. In the next moment, they slid to his front, the one below sliding forward and up, the three magic circles forming into a single one. Alphonse narrowed his eyes.

"Complex," he murmured.

"Take this!" Julian shouted, his face twisted with hate at Alphonse. "Prominence Tornado!"

The spell-caster clapped his hands together, and held them out against his magic circle. There was a powerful surge of prana, the circle flared bright, and then with a roar a burning tornado erupted around the spell-caster. It ripped up through the roof, and then twisting and bending down, slammed down onto and around Alphonse.

The force of the impact displaced the surrounding air with a roar, and shattered the surrounding windows. Julian began to laugh…

…and then his eyes widened, his expression turning from one of triumph to horror. "No…" he whispered.

The flames erupted, and then pooled into a sphere. It parted at the front, showing Alphonse holding out his arms and shaping the sphere's diameter. "Oh yes." Alphonse said, before bringing his hands together.

The flames followed his hand movements, pooling into a dense mass before him. And then he quickly pulled his hands apart, the fire exploding outward in a teardrop-shaped blast that ripped through the west building, and blew out a part of its other side.

Alphonse breathed deeply, lowering his arms, and narrowed his eyes at the battered and gutted ruin in front of him. Several moments passed, and then he sighed. "I must say I'm impressed." He said. "I took your mystery, and twisted it back against you with my own. Even for a single-count spell of an undistinguished lineage as yours, it was very powerful. And I can see why."

Alphonse gave a courtly bow of respect. "Your Fire Elemental Magecraft is truly worthy of respect." He said. "You're still alive aren't you?"

Julian staggered to his feet, his clothes and most of his hair blown off. Most of his body was covered in first-degree burns, but others were deeper, more painful second-degree ones. But despite that, he was still alive.

He was alive.

And he was still capable of fighting, to defy the magus standing against him.

Magic circuits burned bright blue, including an incredibly-complex set that resembled a magic circle carved over his chest: The Strauss Family's Magic Crest. They shone as they cycled prana through his body, and as Alphonse watched he saw his lesser injuries knit themselves together, though the more serious ones stayed as they were.

"That's what kept you alive, wasn't it?" Alphonse continued. "Your family's magecraft?"

Julian tried to speak, only to stagger and nearly fall, spitting blood and phlegm out, saliva drooling after them. He raised a hand, and tried to fire a blast to no effect.

Only a few, quickly-extinguished flickers burned through the air, his magic circuits flickering as he did so. Alphonse sighed. "It would be a shame to kill you." He said. "But to turn my back on you in a self-gratifying display of mercy would be an insult beyond compare, would it not? Very well: I shall end this."

A magic circle flared around Alphonse feet, the magus holding up a gem that glowed bright with white light. "By the power of Gravitas," Alphonse said. "I declare: my enemies shall be as still as rock and as heavy as lead."

The gem flashed and stopped glowing, the magic circle following suit…but Julian found himself crushed to the ground, his body as heavy as lead: just as Alphonse's spell had declared.

 _Gravity manipulation…using the Earth Element…!_

Another magic circle came to life, this time in front of Alphonse, who held another gem in his left hand, crimson light bleeding through the gaps between his fingers. His right hand was held palm outward, against the magic circle. " _Brulure,_ " he said, speaking in French. " _Oh flamme ardente!_ "

The gem and the circle alike flared bright, and then the entire west building exploded, flame utterly immolating everything except the shell of the building, which buckled and heaved from the force. The explosion plumed up and outwards, flames dancing around Alphonse as they erupted from the broken windows in front of him.

They only lasted for moments however, and then they died down, smoke and ash drifting out of the gutted shell. Moments later, and the shattered husk collapsed in on itself, sending out clouds of hot dust, ash, and debris. And again, moments later, Alphonse emerged from the cloud, covered in ash and dust, triumphant and undefeated.

* * *

"As should be expected from Master Alphonse," Elsa said, looking through her binoculars. "Flawless victory."

"Did he have to play dead earlier though?" Marika grouched. "Fucking damn it."

"Lady Marika,"

"Yeah, yeah," she said. "I know. It's language unbecoming of my station, but still…!"

Elsa only smiled at her mistress' griping, but didn't say anything. A serious of explosions down below caught their attention though, along with a rapidly-building whining sound.

The two girls turned their attention down to the atrium, where four men were opening up on Alphonse with AK-74s. The magus was taking shelter behind a stone wall he'd crafted with his magecraft, the explosions apparently having been caused by artillery-like blasts of fire he cast from behind the wall, lobbed up on parabolic paths.

Fired blindly, the remaining mercs avoided them easily, but Marika's attention was on the suited man scrambling into the _Hind_ , its rotors already roaring at full power as the helicopter prepared to climb. Marika took a deep breath, steadying her rifle as she followed the helicopter into the air.

And then her eyes widened, as the _Hind_ 's automatic cannon swiveled down to her father's position. "Fuck that." She said, taking aim and pulling the trigger.

The bullet punched through the pilot's canopy, and reduced his upper body into a mangled ruin. The _Hind_ abruptly pitched, the controls thrown off by the pilot's deadweight, the helicopter beginning to spiral out of control. Rockets fired off from its weapon pods, exploding harmlessly around the complex, before the helicopter crashed into the ground, flame erupting as it skidded down the concrete of the atrium before coming to a halt, reduced to a mangled wreck of torn and blackened metal.

"Is that done?" Marika asked.

"Standby, my lady." Elsa said, zooming in on the _Hind_ 's wreckage. After a couple of moments, she saw a battered and bloody figure push part of the wreck open, Lawrence Hook tumbling out of the helicopter to lie sprawled against the ground. "Lawrence Hook is still alive, my lady."

"No," Marika corrected, taking aim and removing the target's head messily. "I don't think so."

Elsa grinned weakly. "You got him." She said.

"Of course I did." Marika said, drawing back and running a hand through her hair. "Mission accomplished."

* * *

Alphonse was busy smoking a Havana while sitting on a large rock, as Marika and Elsa arrived at the rendezvous point about six hours or so later. "You took your time." He said.

"Rappelling down the hill was easy enough," Marika replied. "Getting from the base of the hill to here through a surprisingly-thick forest and rocky ground took about as long as expected though."

"I see." Alphonse said with a nod. The three of them stayed silent for a while, and then Alphonse offered an unlit cigar to Marika. "Do you want?"

"Father," Marika said reprovingly. "I don't smoke."

Alphonse chuckled. "No, you don't." he said, before taking a long drag on his cigar, before puffing out a cloud of blue-grey smoke. "Were you worried?"

"Of course I was!" Marika suddenly exploded. "First there was that big explosion of fire, and then I see you lying on the ground looking for all the world like you'd been charred to the bone! Do you know how worried I was? And then it turns out you were just faking it all, to throw that dime-for-a-dozen spell-caster off! I just…GAAAH!"

Alphonse smiled slightly at his daughter. "You should know I'm not that easy to kill." He said.

"I do." Marika said after taking a deep breath. "But even so, I…"

Marika trailed off, and Alphonse's mouth fell open at the sheer forlorn expression on her face. "I don't…" Marika murmured. "I don't want to lose…I don't want to lose my family again."

Alphonse closed his mouth and lowered his face slightly. "The rest of the clan are still there, you know." He said. "Luvia, your cousins, your uncles…"

"But they're not you." Marika said softly. She sighed and lowered her face. "I know I…I know I'm being immature about this, and that as magi we shouldn't fear death, because we walk with it, and as soldiers of fortune we live by the sword and would likely die by it, but even so I…I…"

Father and daughter stayed silent, and then with a sigh Alphonse stood up. "Sorry," he said. "Even if it was just good tactics, considering you were watching, maybe I should have done differently. It's not like that Strauss person would have been a real threat, magically-speaking that is, barring extreme incompetence on my part."

Marika didn't say anything, though she hugged her father back after he gently pulled her into one. "I can't promise I won't take risks, or I won't end up dying either in a ritual, in an experiment, or on the field," he said. "You understand why, don't you?"

Marika nodded against her father's chest. "I do." She said.

"But I can promise that I won't make you think I'm dead again," Alphonse continued. "At least not deliberately, alright?"

Marika nodded, and then to Alphonse's surprise laughed in a somewhat bittersweet fashion. "More like where I can't see," she said. "It's good tactics after all."

"Marika,"

"It's alright," Marika said, pulling away from her father and giving a sad smile. "It's just, that's the kind of life we have."

Alphonse stared at her, and Marika stared back. And then he smiled, and leaning forward kissed her on the forehead before patting her on a shoulder. "Yes, it is." He said sadly, matching her smile with his own.

* * *

"Amazing that the kitchen survived undamaged." Marika remarked as she popped a strip of bread into her mouth and began to chew.

It was rather amazing, Elsa thought, to see her mistress so easily let loose with her emotions like adolescents tend to do, and then just as easily revert back to the professional soldier of fortune and magus that she also was. "Well," Elsa said. "It's not like the enemy had enough soldiers to make Alpha Team fight room for room."

"True," Marika admitted. "And the place was rather out of the way too."

"And we're very thankful for that." George de la Croix, one of her father's veteran colleagues in Alpha Team, said. "You can get used as much as you want to rations, be they preserved or reconstituted, but nothing beats proper food."

The Frenchman took a drink of his coffee before making a face. "Can't wait to get back to Europe though," he said. "And have a proper cup of caffeine. In the meantime, James, pass the cream if you please."

"Righto!" James Anderson said, tossing the cream container over to his colleague, who sniffed at the instant creamer inside.

"And some real cream too." He said, spooning a heaping spoonful into his coffee. "Well, this will do until we get back to civilization."

That elicited some laughter from the gathered mercs, who busied themselves returning to eating what they scrounged from the safe house's stores before leaving: bacon, sausage, bread, eggs, and even some chocolate. They'd found some wine too, but Alphonse had put his foot down on bringing it along or even drinking them at the time, pointing out that they still had to hike out to the rendezvous point afterwards.

There'd been some grumbling at that, resolved by de la Croix who agreed to buy everyone a proper round once they got back to a proper European city. Except the children of course: they were much too young for alcohol, after all.

"So," Marika said. "Do we expect any trouble getting to the extraction point? Four of Hook's men escaped after I blew that chopper of his out of the sky, though I hope they won't cause too much trouble."

"They shouldn't." Alphonse admitted. "And I certainly hope so too. Still, we shouldn't be careless when we finally leave. Though, we should be able to get a couple of hours' rest before we march to the extraction point through the night. We should be able to get there by tomorrow morning, just in time for the chopper taking us back to Baku."

He took a look around the gathering at that. "Unless you lot want to march right after we eat," he said. "And _then_ rest after we get to the extraction point. We could do that too."

"I'm fine with either one option." Marika opined, others expressing similar sentiments. It was de la Croix who pushed for the second option.

"People tend to sleep really well after eating." He said. "Even if it's 'just two hours' of rest or sleep now, we'd probably spend more time pulling ourselves together afterward if we rest now."

"There's a good point." James said. "So after this, we're off?"

"Anyone have any objections?" Alphonse said, again sweeping the gathering. "Any dissent? No? Then we'll march once we're finished."

* * *

As hoped, the march to the extraction point went smoothly, with no real trouble along the way. They accidentally disturbed a bear, but Alphonse was able to scare it away with a small, controlled burst of fire, without actually hurting the animal.

They arrived about three hours early, with Elsa and another one of Alpha Team taking first watch, during the first hour and a half prior to the arrival of their ride back to Baku. After that, it had been Marika and Alphonse's turn, Elsa and the Alpha Team member getting some sleep.

Marika yawned as she watched the Sun rise, prompting a raised eyebrow from her father. "If you want you can go back to sleep." He said. "I'm more than capable of keeping watch on my own, you know."

Marika waved it off. "I'll be fine." She said. "I'll sleep on the flight back to Helsinki, we're travelling First Class anyway."

"We're not heading straight to Helsinki we're passing by London first."

"…I knew that."

Alphonse laughed, and Marika grumbled. After a moment though she smiled, and held out a fist. After a moment, Alphonse bumped a fist of his own against Marika, who looked back at the rising Sun.

The moment Marika's gauntlet had struck Alphonse's ring, however, a small amount of prana was exchanged, allowing for telepathic communication between the two magi. " _Did you copy the information in Hook's database?_ " Marika thought.

" _Naturally,_ " Alphonse replied.

" _Won't we get into trouble for it?_ " Marika asked.

" _They know it's an occupational risk whenever our family is involved._ " Alphonse replied. " _In any case, it's how we use the information that matters. If we just put it away and let it gather dust, the Association won't care. If we pick it over for anything useful and avoid using or doing anything…questionable,_ "

Marika snorted at that, and Alphonse grinned weakly. It was common knowledge that 'questionable' was an oxymoron when it came to magi. Magi in general were an amoral lot, and that didn't even factor in those practitioners who wouldn't blink at being compared to people like Mengele or Shirou Ishii.

Neither Marika nor Alphonse had ever seen it in person, but they knew, and _everyone_ knew, that Human experimentation up to and including live dissection and the like, happened and were perfectly tolerated by the Mages Association. It was seen as distasteful and primitive yes, especially by Atlas alchemists or those descended from old and well-established bloodlines that epitomized the pinnacle of orthodox magecraft, but tolerated still for all that.

" _Then they won't particularly care either._ " Marika finished. " _They'll only start caring when we misuse – for a given value of 'misuse' – the information like what Hook did, and of course if we violate the one line the Association holds sacrosanct: vampirism._ "

Alphonse nodded. " _Well,_ " he thought. " _Since we won't be doing any of those, I think we can rest easy with our copy, can't we?_ "

" _And it's not like the Association isn't going to be given a copy of what we're keeping._ " Marika thought with a smile. " _They can't say we're taking undue advantage, when they also get what we get._ "

Alphonse laughed. " _That's true._ " He thought, Marika joining in on the laughter as well.

For a long while, father and daughter sat silent, and then Alphonse broke the silence, speaking out loud. "Have you made your decision?" he asked. "Luviagelita will be waiting."

Marika did not answer at once, and then she sighed. "I have." She said. "If Luvia still wants to participate in that damn blood sport, then I'll help her. How can I not? She's like a sister to me."

"To be honest, all the Edelfelt heirs and heiresses of your age might as well be, considering how close you all are to each other." Alphonse said. "Not that that's a bad thing, nor is it anything new. It was the same back in my day."

Marika laughed and glanced at her father, who looked at her with a knowing gleam in his eyes. "Please," he said. "No jokes on that matter."

Marika laughed again and nodded. "Alright." She said.

Silence descended again, and once again, it was Alphonse who broke it. "Will you be alright?" he asked.

Again, Marika didn't answer at once, but at length she nodded. "It's going to be a real challenge for Luvia and me." She said. "Apart from the Tohsaka heiress, the other Masters will probably be full-fledged magi as opposed to relatively-untested ones like us. And even the Tohsaka heiress is supposed to be a prodigy herself."

Alphonse was silent for several moments, and then he spoke up. "That's not what I meant." He said. "Will you really be alright?"

Marika blinked, glanced at her father, and then smiled. "Yes," she said with a nod. "I'll be alright. I have no regrets."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." Marika said with a nod. "I have nothing to hold me back from defending our family's name against any and all who would challenge it. And of course, Luvia is there."

Marika paused, and raised a fist, the metal of her gauntlet gleaming with reflected Sunlight. "So long as we stand together," she said. "None can stand against us."

"I see." Alphonse said with a nod. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Did you have doubts?" Marika asked softly after a moment.

"No," Alphonse said. "I just wanted to hear you say it."

Marika laughed. "In other words," she said. "You did."

"I guess I did, didn't I?" Alphonse admitted with a laugh of his own.

"It's fine." Marika said. "I was a pathetic little thing, wasn't I? Then again, that was a very long time ago. Things change. Times change. People change. We have changed. _I_ have changed."

"Change is the only constant of our chaotic times." Alphonse continued. "The key is to control the changes, and not let them control you."

"Aunt Lofn is a very good teacher."

"Yes, she is."

"In any case," Marika said after few moments. "The Tohsaka are family as well. The current heiress is, what, my third or fourth cousin?"

"Third cousin," Alphonse confirmed. "Her grandmother was my aunt, being a first cousin of my father. She'd be Luviagelita's second cousin though, as their grandmothers were twin sisters."

"Well," Marika said. "Hopefully she can be reasoned with then, the Tohsaka heiress that is. There's no need for fights to the death, not between family. At least, there shouldn't be. The previous Tohsaka magus, was all but officially aligned with the Aristocratic Faction, wasn't he?"

"From what I remember of the man, yes." Alphonse agreed, stroking his beard. "But, from what I hear your cousin is indeed of the more reasonable sort. She could probably be talked into, well, being reasonable in her goals, and not act like a greedy and uncivilized brute most of the Aristocrats tend to actually be, despite all their claims to the contrary."

"Mind you, there are exceptions."

"Exceptions that prove the rule." Alphonse corrected, and Marika laughed.

"True!" she said, and the two shared a laugh. A sound began to be heard by then, of powerful rotors pumping through the air, and in the distance they could see an unmarked Chinook heading in their direction. "Well, there's our ride. Shall I wake the others?"

"You wake Elsa." Alphonse said. "I'll wake the others. Now, let's go."

"Yes, yes."

* * *

A/N

My thesis proposal is complete, and now I have some free time to write in. So rejoice, for the update is here!

Ahem, two clarifications: first, canonically we don't know which Association faction Tokiomi was aligned with, or if he was even aligned with one at all (though in the latter case he'd be aligned by default with the Researchers whose factions is centered around neutrality and freedom of research). However, considering the way he thought and acted, he seems more in line with the Aristocratic Faction, epitomized by people like Lord Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi or Lorelei Barthomeloi.

Second, actually yes magi in general are that amoral and apathetic. Most magi aren't like Zouken (who would probably get along quite well with the likes of Mengele or Shirou Ishii), but short of finding out he's a vampire (which would entail an immediate execution order/sealing designation) even if they find out just about every other shit he (or indeed, any other Mengele-like magus) pulls, well, they'd find him distasteful, an example of the less admirable members of their society, but neither would they take action against him.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 6

Luviagelita Edelfelt sat in a parlor, wearing a short-sleeved, off-the-shoulder blouse of white over a blue, ankle-length skirt. A shawl of pale blue was draped over the girl's shoulders, over which spilled the girl's elaborately-curled blonde hair. Afternoon light spilled through the large windows beside the couch, washing over the girl and the cat she was playing with. A maid stood against a nearby wall, silently attentive to her mistress' presence.

There was a knock at the door, and Luvia's eyes briefly flickered to it. "Enter." She said, her eyes going back to her cat.

The door opened slightly, and another maid popped her head in. "Lady Luviagelita," she said. "Lady Marika is here to see you."

"Send her in." Luvia said, briefly lifting her cat to tickle its nose with a finger before gently placing the mewling feline on a pillow. She gestured at the maid waiting by the wall who bowed, stepped forward, and then picking up the pillow, took the cat away.

The sound of boot heels clicking against the floor echoed down the corridor, and in a moment Marika entered the parlor, exchanging a nod with the maid and patting the cat on the head before heading for Luvia. Stopping a few paces away, she gave a polite curtsy, and at a nod from Luvia took a seat at a nearby armchair.

Luvia briefly regarded her cousin. Usually she preferred more casual attire, but today Marika wore an elaborate, calf-length dress of midnight blue and pearl-white, the latter also the color of her boots. A pair of hairclips carved into the likeness of seabird wings from mother-of-pearl with a large diamond where the joint would be was clipped to either brow.

In fact, it was virtually the same dress Luvia usually wore as 'work clothes' (though nothing so blasé as the term would imply). The only differences were the color, and the fact that unlike Luvia's work clothes, Marika's version of it did not have detachable sleeves.

Though, they were work clothes for Marika as well, though in her case it was the clothes she wore when working in proper society. Luvia knew quite well that when it came to fieldwork, Marika wore something else, so much so you'd never think she was a magus at all.

"I expected to find you in London." Marika began once she'd taken a seat.

"Father decided there was no point in heading back to London after I returned early." Luvia replied. "I still have to do what I need to do of course, the only difference being I'll do them here instead of in London. And also, it's easier to send materials to London from Helsinki than from Lapland."

"Oh I see. Yes, that makes sense."

In truth, it was widely-recognized that calling the Edelfelt residence in Helsinki a townhouse was something of an oxymoron. It was after all, a sprawling mansion built in the Neoclassical Style dating back to the 1840s, located in the suburbs, with a large front yard sloping down to the front and an even larger set of grounds to the back, enough for summer parties and other events for the entire clan if need be.

And while it couldn't house the entire clan, it could house several families, with the rest – if necessary – lodging in other, actual townhouses elsewhere in the city. But this residence was _the_ Edelfelt townhouse, no matter what it actually was, and the urban residence of the Edelfelt main family when they weren't residing at the ancestral residence in Lapland.

And that residence was even _bigger_.

There was a knock at the door, and both girls turned to look at it. "Enter." Luvia said.

The door opened, allowing a maid with a tea set to enter. "Please pardon my intrusion." She said with a bow, quietly but quickly walking forward to place the tea set on the table before bowing once more and leaving.

"Tea?" Luvia asked once the maid had closed the door behind her.

"Please."

Luvia poured Marika a cup, and then added a touch of red-gold liquid from a small, porcelain container before passing it on a saucer. "Thank you." Marika thanked Luvia while accepting the offered drinking, and then taking in the faint wisps rising from the hot liquid sighed in a relaxed fashion.

Luvia poured herself a cup, though she added milk instead of what Marika usually took with her tea. "Ceylon Red Tea with a touch of brandy," Marika said cheerfully, placing her teacup back on its saucer after taking a drink, and setting them down on the table. "It's the best."

"You shouldn't be drinking when you're so young." Luvia reproved, though the faint smile she wore while saying that took the edge off.

"It's just a touch of brandy." Marika said, waving it off. "Those liquored chocolates probably have more alcohol in the whole box than in a single cup of tea."

"True," Luvia conceded. "But how many cups of tea with brandy do you drink every so often? Compare that to how many liquored chocolates you eat every so often, and your counterargument falls flat."

"Well," Marika said with a smile. "It's not like I can add brandy to my tea at home, so it's not like I drink regularly."

"No," Luvia said, taking a sip and then placing her teacup and saucer on the table before smirking at Marika. "Instead, you do it illicitly whenever you visit. So much so in fact, that whenever you visit, the maids always make sure to prepare Ceylon Red Tea _and_ set aside some brandy to serve it with."

"And who told them to do that?"

"…point."

The girls shared a laugh at that. "Well," Marika said, lifting her teacup to take another drink. "It's not like father doesn't know, in fact I got the habit from him. He's not particularly happy I picked up the habit, but he lets it slide so long as I don't let it get to me."

"Parents can be so corrupting at times, aren't they?" Luvia remarked with a mischievous grin.

"As father once said," Marika said.

"Or Aunt Lofn," Luvia added, and Marika nodded.

"Perfect parents don't exist," she continued. "Nor are they desirable."

"Instead," Luvia carried on. "By using their flawed parents as anti-examples, children learn and develop their own individual perspectives."

The two girls shrugged at that, and both took another drink of their tea. "My father said that too once." Luvia admitted before grinning. "I imagine all of our elders have at one point or another to their children. It's a truism, a piece of wisdom passed down our family from one generation to another."

"It's not exactly wrong either." Marika said with a nod. "Children should learn from the faults of their parents. I'm not saying they can be perfect, but if they have flaws of their own, then it should be their own flaws, and not something they picked up from their parents. Indeed, apart from learning what _not_ to repeat in their turn, their parents' flaws should be used as context, to identify some if not all of their own flaws, and take steps to correct them."

"Not something they picked up from their parents, eh?" Luvia said with another mischievous grin. "And what does that say about you, adding brandy to your tea like your father?"

Marika grinned without a hint of shame while raising her cup in a toast. "Drink in moderation!" she said cheerfully, and causing Luvia to erupt in peals of laughter.

"Fair enough, I suppose." She admitted, lifting her own teacup to return Marika's earlier toast. She paused to take a sip, and then continued speaking. "So, how was work?"

Marika grinned. "Blew the quarry's head apart like an overripe fruit." She said.

Luvia grimaced slightly. "That's a tad graphic, don't you think?" She said lightly.

Marika skeptically raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" she asked. "Two years ago during the incident in Budapest, how did you describe what happened to that coven of Dead Apostles you exterminated? 'Fried like onion rings', if I remember right."

Luvia's eye twitched. "Well, I…uh," she said, and then coughed at Marika's smile. "Moving on, I take it everything went as planned then?"

"Actually yes," Marika said, and then blinking briefly looked up in thought. "Well, there was a hiccup in that abandoned Soviet village, but it's not really noteworthy."

"Oh?"

Marika told Luvia about how she – Marika – and Elsa cleared out the Russian mercenaries camped out in the abandoned Soviet village along their route to their destination. At the end of it, Luvia was looking thoughtful. "I see your reinforcement's as good as ever." she said. "You were right next to that exploding truck and got blown through a house and across a street. As shoddy as Soviet construction might be, not all magi can reinforce themselves sufficiently to quickly shake off the effects of, well, that."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"But," Luvia continued. "About getting pinned down by those Russians, didn't it ever occur to you to just command them to stop, or even to shoot themselves? It's not like they were magi or spell-casters or anything of the sort that could resist mental interference."

Marika was silent, staring at her cousin. Luvia stared back. And then with a groan, Marika slapped a hand against her forehead as Luvia burst out laughing.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Marika moaned.

"I don't know." Luvia said with a shrug. "Maybe your mind was still a bit rattled by getting blown through a house and across a street, or your blood was boiling too hot to think of something so simple."

"I could think clearly enough to use Maximum Relativity to get out of cover, avoid getting shot, and shoot those Russians."

"True," Luvia admitted. "But it's primarily a combat mystery, isn't it? Mental interference isn't usually used in battle, so you probably subconsciously ignored or forgot about it in favor of mysteries designed for or are commonly used in battle."

Marika shook with frustration. "Damn it." She hissed. "I'm going to have to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Good idea," Luvia agreed. "Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones."

"I know." Marika said unhappily. "Mental interference is one of my favorite methods of assassination. Just somehow get close to the enemy, and tell them to die. And they die."

Marika made a sound of disgust, and Luvia smiled comfortingly. "Don't let it get to you." She said. "And in any case, while useful, it's also rather situational."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Luvia rolled her eyes. "Do you really think it'd work against anything with real magic resistance?" she asked.

Marika slowly nodded. "Point," she said, before smiling herself. "Anyway enough about me. How about you? How are things on your end?"

Luvia sighed heavily. "I've got tons of research material to study and write about." She said unhappily. "I know I need to study them, but damn it, it's damn boring just reading about things without actually doing anything."

"The theory needs to be understood before one can make the jump to application."

Luvia looked dryly at Marika. "You know as well as I do that I understand the theory quite well." She said.

"I take it your mystic code is fully operational then."

"It needs a bit more fine-tuning," Luvia said evasively. "And I see plenty of room for improvement, but yes, it does everything I intended for it to do when I started working on it two years ago. With that said, while I say it's fully operational, I think it'll take another five, maybe ten years before I can say it's fully complete.'

"Congratulations," Marika sincerely said. "With this, no one can doubt your talent or your worth as the next head of the Edelfelt Clan. Not that any would have doubted, considering how bright and skilled you've always been."

"Flatterer," Luvia said, pouring herself a fresh cup of tea, and offering to pour for Marika. Marika gently pushed her saucer forward with a nod of acceptance, and Luvia refilled it before adding a fresh touch of brandy.

"It's not flattery if it's the truth." Marika said, before taking a drink.

"True," she said. "Though sometimes I wish I hadn't developed my mystic code, at least not this early. As you say, it's not like my talent or skills were ever in doubt, but ever since it became operational early this summer, people's expectations of me have suddenly doubled if not tripled."

"Hence, the increased workload." Marika said, and Luvia nodded.

"Pretty much,"

Marika smiled, though it faded slightly after a moment. "Sorry," she said. "Maybe if I hadn't…"

"Don't be." Luvia interrupted firmly. "Don't regret making your mystic code. As someone who understands the burden of others' expectations and the need to live up to them, I know how much making it meant to you. In a way, being the heiress to the youngest branch is as hard as being the heiress to the main family. The latter has to be an example to follow for the entire clan, but the former has to prove they aren't deadweight. And it truly is a magnificent mystic code."

"Flatterer,"

Luvia laughed. "As you said earlier," she said. "It's not flattery if it's the truth."

"But it's not really that impressive." Marika said. "It's just raw power, no real elegance or delicacy to it, simply crushing the enemy beneath the overwhelming weight of multiple gemstones and over three centuries of accumulated Edelfelt knowledge."

"And how many fourteen-year old magi develop a five-count mystery on their own?"

"It wasn't on my own." Marika corrected. "Father helped greatly, and I had to look a lot of stuff up in the clan archives back in Lapland, and it took years to make it work. And even now…"

"It still needs plenty of fine-tuning and refining." Luvia completed before shrugging and smiling. "We really are cousins aren't we?"

Marika was silent for a moment, and then smiled and nodded. "Yes, we are." She said. "And I suppose you're right. Even if it is limited to combat applications right now, it's still something you'd never have expected to have been built by a fourteen-year old magus."

"You think it has more than combat applications?" Luvia asked.

Marika shrugged. "I have some theories." She said. "Nothing concrete among or from them right now, though. Well, I have time. A whole lifetime's worth in fact, and if necessary, I can leave my musings behind and focus purely on refining the combat aspects and everything related to them, and leave it to the next generation to…diversify, and see if anything can be made out of my musings."

"The next generation?" Luvia echoed, before smiling and nodding. "Well there's no shame in that. It's perfectly normal and even expected for magi to simply do what they can, and entrust the rest to the next generation, in the hopes they can achieve something one couldn't by building on the foundation one has built."

The two girls sat in silence for a few minutes, just drinking their tea, and then Luvia spoke up. "By the way," she began. "About the matter we discussed before you left for Azerbaijan."

"What about it?"

"I'm going for it."

Marika sat silent for a moment, and then sighed. "May I ask why?" she asked.

"You did say no one can blame us for not participating out of a refusal to risk our clan's heiress in a dangerous grand ritual and blood sport considering its one hundred per cent failure rate so far," Luvia said. "But while there's a point there, we also have to consider Rin Tohsaka is participating too."

Marika raised an eyebrow at that. "What about her participation?" she asked.

"Considering her family was one of the founders of the Heaven's Feel rituals," Luvia said. "She has a virtually-mandatory obligation to participate. But more to the point, she's our relative, isn't she?"

Marika narrowed her eyes. "She's your second cousin, isn't she?" she asked.

"And your third cousin." Luvia added. "What has to be considered though is that our Edelfelt Clan is both older and of greater standing than the Tohsaka is."

"In other words," Marika said. "Even if our grand-aunt was the one who married into the Tohsaka, the greater age and standing of our clan means we are and remain the senior relation."

"Precisely," Luvia said with a nod. "Don't you think it's shameful for the senior relation's heiress to bow out in fear when the junior relation's heiress fights on regardless? I mean, yes we could spin it as mere pragmatism and prudent caution, but even if it has a solid reasoning behind it…"

"It'll still somehow stain Edelfelt's name and honor regardless, one way or another." Marika said darkly. "Damn it, I know defending the family name and honor has to be done, but I still hate it when it narrows down our available choices and forces us into less than favorable circumstances."

"Language Marika," Luvia said before smiling. "Though I agree."

Marika tapped her finger against the table, sitting in silence for a few moments. And then she slowly nodded. "Alright," she said. "Seeing as there's no way Marjatta can come with you, and apart from her and your parents there's no one else who can work as well with you as I can, I'm going to have to tag along."

Luvia tilted her head. "I don't want you to feel obliged or anything…" she began.

"Obliged?" Marika interrupted, looking skeptical at the word. "I'm doing this not because of feudal obligation or anything of the sort. I'm doing this because you're as good as a sister to me, and that's more than enough of a reason to come with you and help out in that damn blood sport."

Luvia chuckled and nodded. "Thank you." She said simply, and Marika smiled and nodded.

"You're welcome." Marika said before sitting back in her armchair. "Then, what preparations have you already made, or have begun doing? That mystic code of yours will undoubtedly be of use in the war, as will mine."

Luvia nodded in agreement. "Quite," she said. "Still, we should bring additional material with us, just in case. Versatility and the ability to adapt to the changing circumstances of the battlefield as it develops is important after all."

"Yes, I can't disagree with you there."

"I've already begun compiling a list of materials to bring with me to Japan come late winter," Luvia said. "I imagine you'll do the same when you get back to your house, won't you?"

Marika nodded, and Luvia continued. "I've already arranged for one of our properties – you know, the ones our grandmother and grandaunt resided in during the Third Holy Grail War – to be renovated." She said. "Financial and other resources will be allocated in the weeks prior to our departure, though preliminary preparations – such as the opening of an offshore account – have already begun."

"What about the catalyst?" Marika asked. "I mean you could summon a Servant even without one, but while that would have the advantage of ensuring that the summoned Servant will be one with an affinity for the Master, there's a large chance that said Servant may be of relatively-average skill and talent, compared to Servants summoned by catalysts, who are typically – given the freedom of choice they give – among the more powerful Heroic Spirits."

"Assuming they accept the summons, of course." Luvia said. "There is that disadvantage when using a catalyst during the Servant summoning ritual."

"Quite,"

"As I've told you in the past though," Luvia continued. "I've already dispatched a team to the Crimea to recover a worthy catalyst. I won't tell you who I plan to summon though: it's a surprise."

Marika grinned back as Luvia grinned and winked at her. "I'll look forward to it then." She said. "And? Has the catalyst been recovered?"

"Yes…and no."

"…what?"

"Apparently the Galliasta want my catalyst." Luvia said with an icy tone in her voice. "The security detail fended the Galliasta's hired thugs, but right now while they have the catalyst they're…trapped, in the Crimea. I've already sent reinforcements to raise the siege, and bring them and the catalyst back here to Finland safely."

"Galliasta?" Marika said skeptically. "I've never heard of that family before."

"Not surprising, you tend to avoid Clock Tower affairs as much as possible."

"Can you deny the place is a nest of vipers?"

Luvia thought in silence for a few moments, and then sighed. "No," she said. "Though it remains the foremost institute of magical research and learning in the world."

Marika snorted. "If they weren't such recluses," she remarked dryly. "Atlas' alchemists would either laugh mockingly at the idea, or liquefy whoever asserts such an insult."

"General or orthodox magecraft then," Luvia said with a shrug. "Atlas is rather specialized after all."

Marika thought for it a bit, and then shrugged. "Fair enough," she admitted. "I can't deny that. So going back to the Galliasta…"

"They're a young family, and part of our faction too." Luvia said. "They're rather arrogant despite their youth however, and while I've never met any of their members, from what I know you'd think they're aristocrats on par with the El-Melloi with the way many of them act."

"I've heard El-Melloi may defect from the Aristocratic Faction to our faction, is it true?'

"I've heard the rumors too," Luvia said. "But while it seems that way under Lord Waver El-Melloi II, we have to keep in mind that in the end he's just Reines Archisorte El-Melloi's proxy in her minority. Depending on what she does once she reaches her majority, well, we'll see. Though, if she follows her brother's course, it's going to cause waves."

Marika laughed. "Plenty of nobles are going to be sour at such a defection." She said. "The El-Melloi are a cornerstone of the Aristocratic Faction, it might actually tilt a lot of the scales in the Clock Tower or even the Mages Association as a whole."

Luvia laughed as well. "That it will." She agreed. "Well, going back to the Galliasta, I'll have to check to be sure, but if I remember right their magecraft is heavily ritual-based. I'm not sure how it works though, as I said I'll have to check."

"Ritual-based?" Marika echoed thoughtfully. "Assuming they somehow get another catalyst and join the war regardless, well, one advantage we'd have is that their more powerful mysteries require extensive preparation, resources, and time to complete. The disadvantage though is, if those rituals are completed, the effects would probably go beyond mere single-action or single-count spells. They're going to be a real pain in the neck to deal with."

Luvia glumly nodded her agreement, the two girls again falling silent. After several moments though, Marika spoke up again. "Speaking of potential Masters," she said. "I ran into Rin Tohsaka in the Clock Tower when we briefly stopped over at London before continuing to here."

"Oh?" Luvia asked. "How did it go?"

"Well…"

* * *

"A drink?"

"Please,"

Kaleva Edelfelt gently took a pair of glasses from his office's liquor cabinet, and poured cognac into both of them. Taking both glasses, he handed one to his cousin. "My thanks." Alphonse said before raising his glass in a toast. "To your health."

"And to yours." Kaleva said, returning the toast before the two men took a drink. "And my commendations to you, your men, and of course your daughter for a job well done at Azerbaijan. Though, some of the bureaucrats in London are making some noises over the possibility that we might have…absconded, with some sensitive information."

Alphonse snorted. "Of course we did." He said, causing Kaleva to smile with amusement. "It's what we do. Everybody knows that."

"Indeed," Kaleva said. "I've directed our agents and allies to deflect the inquiries, and I doubt I'll need to intervene personally. As you said, everybody knows what we do, _and_ we're not so foolish as to be…indiscreet, about our battlefield spoils. Once the motions have been followed, it'll go away, as it always does."

Alphonse nodded, taking a sip of his drink. The two looked similar, though that was to be expected, given they were second cousins. There were differences of course: for one thing, Kaleva was blonde where Alphonse was brunette, though both men's hair and beard were heavily shot with grey. Another difference was their preferred style of beard: Kaleva had a handlebar mustache, while Alphonse had both a mustache and beard worn in the style known as the German goatee.

Alphonse now stroked his beard in thought. "Your daughter," he softly began. "Will she be joining the upcoming Heaven's Feel ritual?"

"She is." Kaleva said. "Personally, I think your daughter's reasoning – from what Luvia's told me – against our participation is sound, but we can hardly not join when the Tohsaka will be. They are arguably a junior branch of the clan – not that they'll admit it nor will we assert it – given our aunt's marriage to their family head at the time."

"Hmm," Alphonse hummed, before walking over to the window to look out at the grounds beyond. "Luviagelita and Marika will have to be careful, or considering the bloody nature of the Heaven's Feel ritual, undo everything we've achieved in pursuit of reconciliation."

Kaleva was silent for several moments, thinking of his mother's dying wish, that her sister's family be reconciled with her own, and of his efforts – largely successful – to achieve that wish. But that was just it: largely successful was not the same as completely successful.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Alphonse said knowingly. "We cannot blame cousin Tokiomi from focusing primarily on the Fourth Holy Grail War that was about to erupt at the time, nor could we – you – have been certain he would die on that same battlefield."

"We knew it was a possibility." Kaleva said. "As much we wish it would be otherwise, as we tell our children the adage of those who live by the sword die by the sword is very much true."

"They should still strive to die in bed, surrounded by friends and family, though."

Kaleva laughed and then nodded in agreement. "True," he admitted. "Well, I suppose our efforts weren't completely in vain. We fulfilled our end of the bargain, though 'bargain' is a rather crude word to put it, given it concerns family matters."

"Quite," Alphonse agreed. "And I'd like to say I more than fulfilled what was expected of me."

"And I wouldn't disagree." Kaleva said, silently toasting his cousin. "Going back to the Tohsaka, I suppose it would be unfair to expect their heiress to carry on immediately where her father left off. She was after all, just a child when her father died. She had to – and still has to – grow into her station before such expectations can be placed upon her."

Kaleva paused to take a drink. "Still," he said. "While I think Luvia and Marika are well aware that family should not spill each other's blood, I think it would be best if they are reminded to be mindful of that fact."

"And on Tohsaka's end?"

Kaleva didn't reply at once, but after a moment nodded slowly. "That is entirely up to them." He said. "It would be disappointing if their heiress were to take extreme measures in deliberate contempt of the sacrosanct bonds of blood. It's a possibility, but I – we – can hope that she will be of good spirit and not forget what is truly important, the disorder and confusion of the battlefield notwithstanding."

Alphonse nodded his agreement. He stayed silent for several moments after that, once again looking out the windows before turning back to Kaleva. The man raised an eyebrow as Alphonse approached, and blinked as he began to speak. "I have a favor to ask, cousin." He asked.

"Oh?"

"You see," Alphonse began with a dark expression on his face that had Kaleva's own instincts up for some reason. "There is a certain someone or rather a certain family that will be participating in the coming war, and for some reason, it makes me rather uneasy."

Kaleva's eyebrow rose again, and then dropped as he narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean by that? And what do you have in mind?"

* * *

A/N

Edelfelt preparations for war continue, and in the next chapter, we'll introduce the third and final jewel: Rin Tohsaka.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 7

The Boeing 747 lumbered through the air, making its way towards Fukuoka International Airport on a flight from Britain to Japan. In the First Class cabin, a seventeen-year old girl sat on one seat, wearing a red, long-sleeved blouse belted at the waist, along with a black skirt over matching leggings and polished leather shoes. Her long, dark hair was tied into a pair of pigtails, and a black ribbon was tied around her collar.

Rin Tohsaka stared out the window, absent-mindedly thinking back to that one day, just a few days ago, back in London.

 _Rin was sitting in a café, reading a book while a cup of tea gently steamed on the table in front of her. The notes of Beethoven's Pathetique tinkled through the air, mingling with the quiet conversation of the other patrons, the clatter of silverware against china, and of china against on china._

 _Focused on her reading, Rin didn't notice someone approaching until that someone was in front of her. Raising her head, Rin's eyes widened at the sight._

 _It was a girl, about a year younger than Rin, with long dark hair combed neatly down to her shoulders, kept out of her face by a pair of hairclips at her brows shaped like small hibiscus flowers crafted from sapphires and some kind of precious metal._ _She wore a long-sleeved, collared blouse of white over a knee-length skirt of midnight-blue and dark-grey leggings, as well as white knee-boots. A red ribbon was tied neatly at her collar, which sported a ruby brooch set in gold._

" _Good afternoon, cousin." The girl greeted her with a friendly smile. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"_

 _Rin opened her mouth, her body tensing as though to jump the person in front of her, but then the self-control drilled into her by her upbringing, her training as a magus and as a martial artist, snapped back into place, forcing her to relax into her seat, and to close her mouth, holding back the name that first came to mind. "May I take a seat?" the girl asked._

 _Rin blinked, and then smiling weakly nodded. "Please do," she said, gesturing at the opposite seat. "M-Marika, wasn't it?"_

" _That's right, Marika Edelfelt." Marika replied before chuckling softly. "It really has been a long time, if you've forgotten my name. Though, at least you recognize my appearance."_

 _Rin slightly lowered her face at that, biting back the retort that came to mind. Fortunately, a waiter approached right then, and Marika gave her order, causing her to miss Rin's reaction. "How long has it been, since we last met?" Marika asked, turning back to Rin._

" _Ten years, give or take a few months." Rin replied softly._

 _Marika chuckled again. "It really has been a long time." She repeated._

" _It has." Rin agreed softly._

 _The two girls sat in silence, with Marika's tea arriving a couple of minutes later. The girl poured a generous amount of milk into the steaming liquid, gently mixed it with a teaspoon, and then setting it aside lifted the teacup to her face. Breathing in the fumes, she savored them momentarily before taking a sip._

" _Hmm," Marika hummed with satisfaction. "This café has very good tea. Well enough about that,"_

 _Marika briefly paused, putting her teacup back down on its saucer. "How have you been?" she asked. "I've known for some time now that you've been spending the summers here in London to keep up with your magical training, what with Uncle Tokiomi having died, well, ten years ago, leaving you with no real magical instructor in your homeland, but I don't really know much more than that. Well, apart from what Luvia tells me, though from what I hear you two don't really get along, so she's probably more than a bit, biased."_

" _Luvia?" Rin echoed. "As in Luviagelita Edelfelt?"_

" _Yes," Marika confirmed. "Luvia is her nickname, though apart from myself, her parents, and her twin, no one else calls her that."_

 _Rin's eye twitched at the mention that her infuriating cousin had a twin. Well, she knew it was a possibility, it did run in the family, so much so that it was arguably reflected by the Edelfelt Sorcery Trait Ore Scales, which allowed for two individuals in a single generation to inherit a crest. But while it was possible, possibility did not necessarily have to become reality._

 _Unfortunately, at least as far as she was concerned, in this case possibility had become reality._

 _Rin coughed to regain her composure. "I've been…well." She said._

" _Hey now," Marika protested. "That's not really an answer, you know. And we're supposed to be family too."_

 _Rin laughed, her chest feeling light for the first time since her reunion with her…cousin, for the first time in ten years. "Point, I guess." Rin said. "Then, how about this? I'll tell you all about how things have been for me, and you do the same for yourself? Of course, since we're in a public place, we'll have to be discreet about it, though apart from that let's just be…honest, with each other. Alright?"_

 _Marika chuckled and nodded. "Fair enough, I guess." She said. "Now then, where do we begin?"_

The sound of the plane's PA system chiming for the passengers' attention shook Rin out of her reminiscence. Subtly looking around the First Class cabin – which was only a third occupied – she noticed flight attendants clearing up and assisting the other passengers to bundle up for the landing.

Another attendant spoke through the PA system, addressing the passengers that they were making the final approach to Fukuoka International Airport, and would be disembarking within half an hour at most. The attendant went on to remind passengers of safety procedures, to fasten their seatbelts, and provided instructions for those who suffered from ear pain caused by changing air pressure.

Rin largely ignored the address, knowing the gist of it already. Fastening her seatbelt around her waist, she checked her things lying on the seat next to her, and relaxing back in her seat, waited for the plane to finish its landing.

* * *

Rin walked out of terminal, the sheer number of people in the airport meaning it took her slightly over an hour to get through immigration and customs both. Pulling her bags behind her, she looked around for her ride, and took a deep breath while closing her eyes.

"Miss!" she heard a familiar voice shouting, and opening her eyes glanced in its direction. "Miss Rin!"

Sure enough, there was her family's chauffeur, Takuya Shimura running towards her, wearing his black uniform and cap. "Welcome back, Miss Rin!" he said as he ran up to her.

"Yes, I'm back again." She said, letting the man take her things for her.

"How was your trip?" Shimura asked, leading the way to where the car was waiting.

"Productive, if somewhat disappointing this year, at least in professional terms." Rin answered. The help didn't know she or her family were rather…supernatural, but they did know her summer trips to London were to advance her education, just not which educational field specifically.

"Oh?" the man said curiously. While the help stayed largely professional, both the chauffeur and her mother's maid were considered friends by both Rin and her mother, at least as close as employers and employees could be considered friends.

"I ran into one of my more pleasant cousins this summer." Rin said.

"Oh that sounds great! Congratulations, miss."

"Thank you." Rin said with a sigh and a satisfied smile. "And it was great to see her again after so long. I've always…"

Rin's smile faded as she trailed off, and when she didn't respond to Shimura's curious expression the man decided not to press the matter. Whatever it was, it was clearly private, and not something he should pry into.

They walked the rest of the way to the car in silence, and after opening and closing the door for her, Shimura loaded Rin's luggage into the cargo compartment before getting into the car himself. "Shimura-san," Rin began as he started the car.

"Yes, miss?" Shimura said, looking back at Rin using the rearview mirror.

"When we get back to Fuyuki," she said. "Let's pass by the cemetery first, before heading to the house. I, I want to pay my father a visit."

"Yes, of course, I understand."

Rin nodded, and in another moment they were on their way.

* * *

"I'm not envious of your appointment," the old priest began, sitting to one side of the coffee table in the Kotomine Church's living room. "Though I must say, I'm surprised that someone as young as you are being appointed as the Overseer for the upcoming Fifth Holy Grail War."

"I am a fully-qualified exorcist." Caren Ortensia said, sitting on the other side of the coffee table.

"I am aware." The old priest said with a nod. "I am also aware that at least in terms of lore, you will not be lacking in performing your duties in the upcoming conflict. The problem is that your abilities will be of little use in said conflict. An Executor, even a retired one, as your father once was, may be more suited for the role."

"And yet," Caren countered. "My grandfather, your predecessor as the Overseer, also had combat abilities that could be considered deficient for the role. And the same could be said for you."

"Indeed," the old priest agreed. "And no offense intended, it saw him helpless when one of the Masters during the Fourth Holy Grail War violated the sanctity and neutrality of this place, and killed him where he stood. As for myself, I was never intended to see the conflict and bloodshed of a Holy Grail War. My role was always to safeguard the Grail, as it slumbered in between the conflicts for its ownership."

Caren nodded a few times. "Point taken." She conceded. "However, it may be that the Church has precious few manpower to spare for this task."

"Hmm?" the old priest hummed his curiosity.

"At the best of times," Caren pointed out. "Our Executors are stretched thin dealing with supernatural threats across the world, be they vampires or monsters or heretics, with even retired ones tied down in the crucial role of training successors for those who fall in battle or are unable to further fight in the Lord's name. The same could also be said for the sages of the Church: precious few are found to be trustworthy enough to be allowed to learn of the existence of the supernatural beyond the veil and what the masses consider to be real."

"Hmm," the old priest hummed, crossing his arms and closing his eyes thoughtfully. Caren took advantage of the next several moments of silence to take a drink of her tea. Finally, the old priest opened his eyes.

"Yes, I see your point." He said. "And for all the 'fame' attached to the periodic conflict in this city, it is ultimately a mere blood sport with little import for the rest of the world. Given the limited resources of the Church, perhaps it may be that you and I are the best of what they can spare at this time."

"It certainly seems that way." Caren agreed with a nod. "It is also certain that the Association attaches similarly little real value to the periodic conflicts in this city. Not that it stops magi from taking the opportunity when it appears before them, of course."

"Quite," the old priest agreed with a nod.

Caren smiled with amusement afterwards though. "Though," she said. "If they knew what the true purpose of the Grail is, then that might change."

"And they must never know." The old priest said with narrowed eyes. "For if they do, they may very well divine the true purpose behind our insistent acquisition of right of oversight of the conflict, beyond simply the prize of the war supposedly being in our purview."

"Curious," Caren said with a tilted head. "I was unaware that limiting the casualties and destruction of the fighting is an unworthy cause."

"It is." The old priest said. "A worthy cause, that is. But ultimately our goal is to ensure the Grail's power will not be used to alter the world, and instead to open a path beyond it, as it was originally meant to do."

"And once that path is opened and used," Caren said. "It can never be opened again."

"And with it the heart of the Grail," the old priest said. "The 'Greater Grail' which lies at the root of this conflict, will cease to function, bringing an end to the periodic conflict in this city. And of course, it also means an end to the risk of its power being used to alter the world."

"Indeed," Caren agreed with a nod. "Though, we must keep this goal secret, and with it the existence of the Greater Grail. Should the Association learn of its existence, they will undoubtedly seek to seize it for themselves."

"And they must never be allowed to do so." The old priest said. "Those wretched magi will undoubtedly seek to replicate its functions, perhaps with even catastrophic results. Worse, we will have no means to restrain or properly-direct it or its replicas' use, which goes against our goal of keeping its power from being used to alter the world."

"Tohsaka, von Einzbern, and Makiri," Caren said with a slight shake of her head. "The three founding families who alone know of the true purpose of the Grail, and who started this war with the intent of using its powers to reach beyond the World to Akasha."

"But of those three," the old priest said with a sigh. "Only Tohsaka remains true to the original purpose. Von Einzbern merely seeks to win the war, and regain the Third True Magic. That would be rather…unacceptable, as the return of that lost sorcery would alter the world."

"And Makiri," Caren said before pausing. "Or rather the last, aging magus of that wretched family, Zouken Matou, would likely use the Grail to restore his withered family's magical potential. A selfish and pointless desire, and one incompatible with our goals. His victory might not necessarily result in a change in the world, but the Grail would still function. After all, so long as the path to Akasha remains unopened and unused, the Greater Grail would continue to function, and with it, the rest of the Holy Grail of Fuyuki."

The old priest nodded. "To end this endless cycle of bloodshed in this city," he said. "And to ensure the Grail's power is not misused, the Tohsaka must win. They alone have a goal that is acceptable to ours, and indeed, they are ancestral allies of ours, having been secret Christians when the Shogunate persecuted the followers of the Lord in this land, and helped their brothers and sisters whenever they could. A shame they eventually became magi for one reason or another, but they are better than most."

"Perhaps," Caren said with a nod. "Perhaps not. In any case, as you mentioned the Tohsaka's victory is something we must strive for and for the reasons you gave. While there are undoubtedly other magi out there who would use the Grail to reach beyond the World, well, it's too dangerous to potentially let slip the Grail's true nature, and with it, our ability to properly-direct its use, and limit the consequences of its attempted use or misuse."

The old priest nodded in agreement, but said nothing. Caren took a sip of her tea. "When will you be departing the city?" she asked after several moments.

The old priest smiled. "Are you that eager to see me leave?" he asked.

"Of course not," Caren replied. "I am genuinely curious, that is all."

"I will be departing on Monday morning next week." The old priest said. "I would introduce you to our congregation in this city on Sunday Mass, and inform them of the change in personnel assignments for the two of us."

Caren nodded, and the old priest smiled. "Well, there's no need to worry." He said. "The congregation is small, but well-knit for all that. Though given your youth, you may find it challenging to earn their complete acknowledgement."

Caren smiled. "Then I will do my utmost to earn their acknowledgment." she said. "As a servant of the Lord, it would not do for His flock to have a shepherdess they cannot count on to lead them in the world's dark."

"Well said, sister." The old priest said, and Caren bowed. "Now then, shall we hold off on transferring the Overseer's command spells, or do you want to do it now?"

Caren vaguely gestured around them. "Well," she said. "Since you brought it up, and we're already here, we might as well."

"Very well," the old priest said, pulling up his right sleeve before leaning forward with his right hand extended.

Caren also leaned forward, and took the old priest's hand. One by one, the Overseer's command spells flashed to life, the surrounding air growing thick and heavy, with just the barest hint of copper.

And then the sensation vanished, and with it, the command spells of the Overseer. The priest and priestess alike let go, and then unbuttoning her cuff, Caren pulled back her right sleeve.

Tattooed over her right arm, were the Overseer's command spells. "I would say congratulations on becoming the Overseer," the old priest began. "But I cannot, for it is not an enviable post. Instead, I will say good luck, and may the Lord watch over and guide you in your role."

"Thank you." Caren said, pulling her sleeve back into place and buttoning her cuff. "I do not fear death however. Fear denies faith after all, and martyrdom is an honor offered to few."

"Indeed," the old priest agreed. "But neither should the gift of life the Lord grants freely to us all be squandered so easily. To squander it is to demean its value, and with it the Lord's greatness."

"Quite," Caren agreed.

* * *

"I'm home." Rin called out as she closed the door behind her. There was a series of sounds from further into the house, and several moments later Aoi Tohsaka appeared in the foyer.

"Welcome back." She said with a smile, pausing only to return her daughter's sudden hug. Kissing her on the forehead, Aoi smiled wider while holding Rin gently by the arms. "Did you get held up by the traffic?"

"Not really, no." Rin said with a shrug. "Well, there was plenty of traffic leaving Fukuoka and again when coming into Fuyuki, but for the most part the road was clear between here and there."

"I see."

"I," Rin said, briefly pausing. "I got held up, because I went to visit father, that's why."

Aoi blinked, and then her expression turning wistful, dropped her arms while looking away. "I see." She said. She stayed silent for another moment, and then with a sigh turned back to Rin with a smile. "Well you don't have to apologize. It's only good manners to tell your father you're back from a trip after all, so I'm sure he appreciated it. Though, I hope you wouldn't mind accompanying me to visit next week."

"Of course not." Rin said, returning her mother's smile. The two of them stood in silence for a few more moments, and then both looked further into the house as another person approached, wearing a short-sleeved, black-trimmed and collared blouse of white with a knee-length skirt in a black-and-white checkerboard pattern under a black apron, all over black leather shoes and white stockings.

"Welcome back, Miss Rin." The maid greeted Rin, who nodded at her.

"Thanks, Aya-san." She said, and the maid returned the nod before turning to Aoi.

"Aoi-sama," she said. "I've finished preparing the vegetables, and the soup stock's started to boil."

"I see." Aoi said with a nod. "Thank you, but for now please help Rin carry her luggage to her room and unpack."

"Yes, Aoi-sama."

"No, I'll be fine carrying and unpacking my own luggage." Rin said with raised hands. "Aya-san, you should help mother in the kitchen. And once I finish up with my things, I'll come to help out too."

"But, Miss Rin,"

"What?" Rin said with a small smile. "I have to do my part in housework too, you know?"

"That may be so," Aoi said. "But tonight's supposed to be to celebrate your homecoming. It doesn't feel very appropriate for you to exert much effort if you're the one being celebrated."

"I agree as well, Miss Rin." Aya Mikazuchi said with a nod. "You should freshen up and rest from your trip."

"I travelled First Class, you know." Rin countered dryly. "It wasn't particularly tiring by any stretch of the imagination, or at least by my standards. And since I'm the one being celebrated, shouldn't my opinion be taken into consideration? I want to help."

"No." Aoi said insistently, walking behind and taking Rin by the shoulders gently nudged her in the stairs' direction. She smiled down at Rin when she looked back over a shoulder at her mother. "I appreciate the thought, but while your opinion counts my opinion counts for so much more. I'm your mother after all."

Aoi smiled wider as Rin pouted. "That's unfair, mother." Rin said.

Aoi laughed, and patted Rin's shoulders. "Maybe," she said. "But that's the way things work until you finish growing up. Until then, I'll do my best to raise my precious little girl right. Though, even after you grow up, you'll always be my precious little girl."

Rin blushed and looked down. "And I wouldn't want it any other way." She said softly. "I understand, and thank you."

Aoi nodded and stepped back. "Now then, I have to dinner to attend to." She said with a smile. "I found some good meat earlier, so we'll be having sukiyaki tonight."

Rin's eyes went wide and her head quickly shot up and around to her mother's direction. "Really?" she asked, and Aoi nodded, causing Rin to smile widely in anticipation.

"Aya-san," Aoi said, turning to the maid.

"Yes, Aoi-sama?"

"Draw some hot water up before coming to help me in the kitchen." She said. "Even if the trip hasn't really worn her out, Rin should refresh herself with a nice bath before enjoying tonight's meal."

"Yes, Aoi-sama." Aya said with a nod before heading up the stairs with a nod at Rin as she passed by. "Excuse me."

Rin followed Aya up the stairs with her eyes, and then went to get her luggage. Aoi looked in silence as Rin gathered her things, and began to carry them up the stairs. But even as Aoi made to return to the kitchen, she paused when she heard Rin also pause climbing up the stairs. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I met…Marika, in the Clock Tower." Rin said, causing Aoi's eyes to widen. Silence fell for a few moments, and then Aoi spoke up softly.

"How was she?" she asked.

"She seemed well." Rin said with a wistful smile. "She's really changed too, from when I last met her ten years ago. She's grown strong, and doesn't need anyone to watch out for her anymore."

"I see." Aoi said, her voice just as wistful as Rin's smile. "Is she happy?"

"Yes, I think she is." Rin said, still wearing that wistful smile.

"I see."

Again, silence fell, and then Rin sighed. "Well," she said. "I'll go take my things and unpack first, and then have a nice warm bath."

Aoi nodded. "That sounds good." She said. "And take your time: it's best to let the sukiyaki simmer for a bit, to let the flavor sink in."

Rin nodded back, and resumed climbing up the stairs as Aoi headed back to the kitchen. And as Rin continued up the stairs, she thought back to her cousin and made a single, bittersweet, and selfish wish.

 _I wish…I wish things could have been different._

* * *

A/N

Well, there we go. Rin makes her appearance, and surprise, surprise, so does Aoi.

It doesn't seem like much is happening here, but personally I don't think so. I'll continue with the next chapter, with Caren meeting Rin and talking about the war.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 8

Rin had had expectations of the new Overseer, the one who was actually meant to oversee the surprisingly-early Fifth Holy Grail War, and not just watch over the Holy Grail during its abruptly-ended slumber. The girl sitting on the couch opposite from her completely destroyed all of her expectations.

"How old are you?" Rin found herself asking, and earning herself a reproving elbow from her mother, who was sitting beside her.

"I am fifteen-years old." Caren replied serenely.

Rin pinched the bridge of her nose, somehow just _knowing_ this was the beginning of a headache that would last the entirety of the war. "That means you are two years younger than I am." She said.

"So I am." Caren replied serenely. "Is there a problem?"

Rin stared at Caren, who stared back. Finally, after several moments, Rin sighed and nodded. "Yes," she said slowly. "Or so it seems. Might I know your qualifications for your new post?"

"I am a fully-qualified Exorcist, if somewhat lacking in experience due to my age." Caren replied.

Rin tapped a finger against one of her chair's armrests, and then nodded slowly. "So you have the supernatural knowledge appropriate for the post." She said. "But that might not be enough."

"I am well aware of that." Caren agreed. "My grandfather's untimely demise in the same position I now hold is proof that someone combat-capable is likely more suitable to hold this post."

Rin blinked, and then looked closer at Caren at that. She blinked again, and was taken aback. "You are Father Risei's granddaughter?" she asked. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to doubt you, but the resemblance is rather…lacking."

Caren nodded. "I take after my mother in appearance." She said. "You are not the first to notice how little of my father and grandfather's appearance I have inherited. If you have further doubts on this however, I would be pleased to provide you with the proper references."

"Hmm," Rin hummed, and then shook her head. "No, that won't be necessary. I don't see any reason for you to lie about this, and I suppose it was rather…discourteous, of me to doubt you when you haven't given me any reason to."

"Indeed," Caren said with a nod. "I have no reason to, but even if I did, I would not. Thou shalt not bear false witness, thus sayeth the Lord."

Rin found herself sadly smiling at that. She was familiar with the Ten Commandments, even if she wasn't a believer. In the Church's faith, that is. As a set of principles, she found the Ten Commandments fine ones to have.

Realistically-speaking though, she knew quite well that actually following them to the letter at any and all times was impossible. Magi especially, given that their whole society was based on a massive lie, that magic and the supernatural were impossible, or so the masses had to believe to preserve the continued existence and advancement of magic.

To hear someone implying that they were seriously trying to stay true to the Ten Commandments as a goal in life…she found it sadly amusing in some ways. " _She sounds so sincere about it._ " Rin thought. " _After several years in the Clock Tower I can tell. She really does believe in them, and would follow them whenever and wherever she goes. But, when the ideal and the real clash, what then?_ "

Rin briefly closed her eyes, and sighed. " _Ideals are like dreams._ " She thought, sitting back in her chair. " _And reality is like waking up. When you wake up, your dreams…_ "

Rin let the thought trail off, and shook her head. "Quite," she simply said, and prompting a raised eyebrow from the priestess. Caren however decided not to press the matter. "However, going back to your earlier mention that someone more combat-capable would be better suited for your current post…"

Caren nodded as Rin trailed off. "My father," she began. "Would have been well-suited for this post, having been a retired Executor at the time of his death."

Rin was rather surprised at the seeming lack of grief at Caren's mention of father's death, with no indication of how she felt about it to be found in either her soft, musical voice or her golden eyes. Considering how sincere the priestess was, such lack of concern was rather…disturbing.

And apparently, it showed on her face, as Caren quickly noticed and discerned the reason for it. "My mother died when I was a baby." She said to Rin. "My father…considered himself unsuitable to raise me on his own, and entrusted me to my mother's family. They were the ones who raised me, and ultimately, and regrettably-so, it has resulted in me being unable to feel any real paternal affection towards my late father."

There was a hint of regret there, and Rin immediately felt bad. "Understandable," she said before mentally kicking herself. "And my apologies: that was rather rude of me."

Caren nodded, and then returned to their earlier topic, deciding not to press the vagueness of Rin's apology. "However," Caren said. "My father died during the Fourth Holy Grail War. And at present, well, simply-put the Church's forces are stretched thin at the best of times, handling supernatural threats across the globe on multiple fronts, or handling equally-vital duties within the Church."

"In short," Rin said with a nod. "You and your predecessor were the only ones the Church could spare to oversee the events in this city."

Caren nodded. "That is so." She said. "And for all the fame attached to the Grail Wars of Fuyuki, it is ultimately a blood sport with little real importance to the rest of the moonlit world. I apologize if I caused offense, demeaning what your family considers to be one of its greatest achievements, however…"

Rin waved it off. "It's alright." She said. "I get what you mean, and I understand. So there's no need to apologize."

Caren bowed, and Rin sighed. "While it is galling to admit," she said while leaning forward. "The Holy Grail War _is_ just a blood sport, if one with a very valuable prize. And compared to the kind of enemies to be fought and dangers to be addressed elsewhere by the Church or the Association, it's only to be expected that it's lower down on their list of priorities."

Rin fell silent for several moments, and then with a sigh sat back. "Alright," she said. "In light of your vulnerabilities and our alliance, I'll do what I can to keep some greedy, uncivilized magus doing to you what they did to your grandfather."

"I am not completely helpless." Caren said lightly. "If necessary, I can and will use my command spells to seize the Servant of any Master who breaks the Church's neutrality and attempts to inflict harm against my person. You cannot after all, be there to protect me all the time, nor is it desirable, even to expend the effort to do so."

Rin narrowed her eyes, but after few moments blinked and then nodded. "True," she said. "It might arouse suspicion, and might start causing the other Masters to start turning stones over. Magi in general _are_ a curious and perceptive lot, and if we're not careful they might find some things that should stay hidden."

"Having our alliance exposed would be quite undesirable, on both our parts." Caren said.

"Agreed," Rin said.

"With that said," Caren said. "Should an enemy openly raise a hand against me, I assume I can count on your assistance afterward?"

 _Assuming I can survive the likely-treacherous first blow, of course._

"Naturally," Rin said with a nod. "Indeed, that way would allow me to assist you without arousing suspicion. After all, all Masters are required to uphold the Overseer's neutrality, and should one or another breach that neutrality, it is an unspoken understanding that the one who breached neutrality would be punished by their fellow Masters."

 _If only to absolve themselves of the Church's blame and the potential consequences of killing one of their own._

"That is perhaps the best we can hope for in the unlikely – but not impossible – event of the Church's neutrality being violated." Caren said with a sigh. "It might have been better if I had real combat capabilities, but we must all serve the Lord as our talents would best."

Rin nodded, and after a moment and a drink of her tea, spoke up once again. "On another note," she said with a small smile. "I have to say I'm impressed."

"Oh?"

"Yes." Rin said with a nod. "They call me a prodigy, but even now at the age of seventeen, I remain within the seventh and lowest rank of the Mages Association, and would remain so until I certify my proficiency of General Fundamentals. And yet, you are a fully-qualified Exorcist, a specialization that could qualitatively be considered beyond that of a sixth-rank magus."

Caren smiled. "I am honored by your praise." She said. "With that said, it is undeserved."

"Oh?"

"My achievement at my age has more to do with latent ability as opposed to proficiency in any field of skill or talent." Caren said. "And of course, while I would not speak too much on the matter as it is not my place to do so, the Church's mysteries are much simpler – if more profound – than those of magi in general, and so are easier to learn."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "So…" she pressed, and caused Caren to briefly smile wider.

"Qualitatively-speaking," she said. "You and I are probably equals in skill."

" _Hmm,_ " Rin mentally hummed. " _So you're probably only proficient in the basic Church mysteries – which are admittedly among the most effective in existence when it comes to spiritual matters – and those of the exorcism specialization. And even then, you have some innate gift, a Sorcery Trait perhaps, that allowed you to gain proficiency in the latter sooner than most would have._ "

After another moment, Rin smiled back. "I see." She said. "In that case, I apologize for assuming."

Caren bowed. "It's fine." She said. "I was not offended in any way. Moving on though, shall we discuss now discuss the true purpose of the Grail and our alliance?"

Rin blinked, and then after sharing a confused glance with her mother turned back to the priestess. "I beg your pardon?" she asked.

"The true purpose of the Holy Grail," Caren laconically elaborated. "And why the Holy Church is allied with your family."

Rin narrowed her eyes. "Go on." She urged.

Caren smiled reassuringly. "I assure you," she said. "What subterfuge exists is not aimed at your family, and is not solely by ourselves. Indeed, it is not just our two parties which are part of this grand deception, but also the other two founding families."

Rin sat back in her chair, tapping at her chin. After a few moments she nodded slowly. "I'm with you so far." She said neutrally.

Caren nodded, briefly closing her eyes as she did so. "As you know," she said. "The Church and your family have been allies even before you became a magi lineage, due to both your status as secret Christians under the Tokugawa Shogunate, and as the feudal lords of this territory."

"Yes," Rin said with a nod. "I know that much. Our relatively-high social rank gave us more room so to speak, which the Church – through our status as secret Christians – took advantage of as one of their few remaining…assets, in this land prior to the Meiji Restoration."

"And through that alliance we learned of the true purpose of the Grail, which not even the Association knows about…and with good reason."

Rin sighed and rested her chin against a hand. "This drama is getting boring." She said, and smiled as she saw Caren's lips twitch with amusement.

"Very well," Caren said with a nod. "I will get to the point. The Grail may be used to grant wishes, usually with the power of six fallen Servants – or even five if the wish is not particularly extravagant, so to speak – but with the power of seven fallen Servants, it can open a path beyond the World, and through it…"

"…Akasha." Rin whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief. "The Root, the Origin of All Things: the ultimate goal of all magi."

Caren nodded. "Now you know why the Association must never know." She said.

"Of course I do." Rin hissed. "If they did, they'd immediately place this land and with it the Grail under their direct custody. I doubt if there'd be much room left for the founding families then."

"Indeed," Caren agreed.

"But, I doubt if it's as simple as you say it is." Rin said with narrowed eyes. "If it were a simple matter of all seven Servants being felled and then the victor wishing to reach the Root, and this fact is secret only to the Church and the founding families because no ever thought of it, well, the Association as byzantine as it might be, is not stupid. They'd have noticed long since."

"You are correct." Caren said with a nod. "But this requires a more…elaborate, explanation."

"I'm listening."

"The Holy Church as you know was granted right of oversight over the Holy Grail War following the third war, as a means to limit the destruction of the war." Caren began. "And even before then, we'd been agitating for a say in the contest, given that it involved the 'Holy Grail'."

Rin nodded as Caren paused to take a drink of her tea, and then continued. "But in truth," Caren said. "Even before then the Church already knew that the Grail of Fuyuki was a fake."

Rin narrowed her eyes. "Which begs the question why?" she asked.

Caren nodded. "The answer is simple." She said. "The Church sought to prevent the power of the Grail from being used to alter the world, and since simply destroying it was not an option for a few reasons…"

"Such as alienating one of your allies," Rin interjected. "Starting a breach with the Association, and who knows what else…"

"Quite," Caren said. "We approached your family, and through our alliance – though that is but one reason why we approached you and not the other founding or allied families – sought to ensure that should you use the power of the Grail, it would be used to reach the Root, that is _beyond the world_ , and not to alter it."

"I'm guessing it was then that however the Grail was meant to be used came up."

"Yes." Caren said. "According to your grandfather, the Holy Grail was always – as far as the founding families were concerned – meant to be used to reach the Root. Only, not through wishes: no, by instead collecting the power of seven fallen Servants and feeding it directly into the core of the system – the so-called 'Greater Grail' – then a gateway to the Root would be opened."

"And?"

"And," Caren said. "It was then that it was decided that the Church would covertly assist your family in attaining the Root, seeing as they were the only ones who could be trusted, at least among the founding families."

"Oh?"

"The Einzbern have made no secret that they seek to regain the lost Third Magic." Caren said. "They always have had that goal. Naturally, the return of one of the lost sorceries is not something we could or would support. As for the Matou…to be honest, at the time we knew not what the Matou would have wished for. Now though, the last Matou magus, Zouken, would probably use it to restore his family's withered magical potential."

"Understandable," Rin said before giving a small, but knowing smile. "But not something you could or would support either, right?"

Caren smiled and bowed. "Indeed," she said. "The Tohsaka by contrast, have always had a reputation of being steadfast and determined in the pursuit of their goals, before and after becoming magi. And even after they became magi, a proud boast of your family was that you always sought to become as close as possible to the ideal magus, including the end goal of your efforts having always been to reach the Root."

Rin chuckled. "And the facts that we're guaranteed as potential Masters in any war," she said. "And were already committed to using the Grail to reach the Root via the Greater Grail, were just bonus reason for the Church to back us?"

"A bit…poorly-put, but yes. They were additional factors as to why your family was approached."

Rin chuckled again. "I see, I see." She said. She mulled the priestess' words over in her head, sitting in silence as she did so. Caren sat likewise, taking small sips of her tea while keeping a cool and unconcerned expression on her face.

Aoi though, had a veiled expression of unease and sadness on her face. Rin only had to briefly think about it, and she knew why.

Passing through a World Gate was almost certainly suicide. A person had more chances of actually finding a speck-sized jewel in the middle of a desert, than avoiding death by a Counter-Guardian's hands along the way, or if they did reach the Root, vanish from the World in the greatest of all mysteries.

Did they 'die' when they reach the Root, as their being 'returned' to its origin?

Or perhaps there was something else on the other side of the Root, a…transcendental, plane of existence for those who had completely understood the Truth of all creation?

Or something else entirely?

Of course, Rin knew that it wasn't impossible to come back, by turning back after taking only a single step into the beyond, before one was lost – or was that an improper description – to the Root. And those that did always did so bearing a power from beyond the World, power to do ignore its laws and to make the impossible possible: True Magic.

But, it was also said that even if they returned as sorcerers, they would then be targeted by the Counter Force almost immediately upon arrival, and more often than not, they would fail to overcome that final trial.

" _No wonder mother is so sad at the idea._ " Rin thought sadly. " _It's a virtual death sentence. If I complete, open, and pass through the World Gate, I'll either be killed by a Counter-Guardian or face whatever fate waits for those who reach the Root. And even if I do come back as a magician, I still have to roll the dice against the Counter Force when I come back._ "

Rin chuckled and shook her head while sitting up. "My father knew, didn't he?" she asked.

"Of course," Caren nodded. "The heads of the three founding families all know of this secret. However, you were only a child back then, six or seven-years old by my guess. It is probably the only reason why he did not pass on this secret to you."

"I see." Rin said, briefly closing her eyes before looking at her mother. Aoi glanced at her, and then her eyes briefly widening, she looked away.

The sight nearly broke Rin's heart.

 _Father is gone, and so is Sakura. If I go…whether I die or meet my fate at the Root, she'll be left all alone._

 _Can I really do that?_

 _And, considering how death is the most likely outcome of passing through a World Gate, if I fail to reach the Root, won't the Tohsaka line end with me?_

 _End with me in failure?_

 _But…but I…I…_

… _can I really ignore this chance to achieve what magi are ultimately meant to achieve?_

 _For something so sentimental as mother's feelings? For the end of the Tohsaka line whether in success or defeat?_

 _What should I do, father?_

 _Sakura?_

 _What should I do?_

Rin took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "I…" she began only to trail off. "I'll need to think about this."

Caren looked surprised, but before she could speak, Rin preempted her. "This is more complicated than you think." She said. "For one thing, even if I passed through the World Gate at the Greater Grail, there's no guarantee that I'll actually reach the Root. And even if I do…either way, the Tohsaka line ends with me. That's why…I…"

Rin trailed off, and Caren nodded. "I see." She said. "I see your point."

Rin sighed. "And," she said. "No, it's nothing."

 _Seven fallen Servants? I wonder what it says about me that I didn't notice when I first heard it._

 _ **Seven**_ _fallen Servants…in other words, a command spell or spells have to be used to force the victor's Servant to commit suicide._

 _I…_

… _rationally…as a magus…I know Servants aren't really alive, aren't really 'real', just copies of a Heroic Spirit enshrined in the Throne of Heroes incarnated in metaphysical bodies made real by an infinitely-close replication of the Third True Magic…_

… _but still, to betray someone you'd have fought alongside, risked your life with, that's just…_

"In that case," Caren said, draining her teacup. "Perhaps I should take my leave. My predecessor assured me you'd already dispatched agents to acquire a proper catalyst, so I can assume you will be participating regardless and…"

Caren paused as Rin glanced at her, and the priestess gave a small bow. "My apologies," she said. "I've said too much. And I admit I've provided much food for thought, and which you'll have to think over in depth and at length to accommodate."

Rin nodded silently, and Aoi rang a small silver ball to summon their maid. But as Aya arrived and Aoi instructed her to escort Caren to the front door, the priestess seemed to remember something. "My apologies," she said with another small bow. "I'd almost forgotten. I do not know why my predecessor didn't realize or report if he did, though I generously consider it was a combination of the former and his own advancing age…"

"What is it?" Rin asked shortly.

"The Edelfelt property near Kotomine Church is being renovated." Caren said. "Nothing too 'special' yet, but it's only a matter of time. I doubt if the timing is coincidental. They will be coming: the hyenas of Finland."

Aoi looked even more her age, unable to meet Caren's eyes as the priestess bowed, made her goodbyes, and was escorted out.

"Edelfelt…" Aoi echoed once they were out of earshot. "They're participating?"

"I'll double-check." Rin said softly. "Though I don't think the priestess would have lied. She has no reason to, and I can tell she was always sincere, all through the entire conversation."

The last two members of the Tohsaka Clan stayed in silence, until Aya came to inform them that Caren had gone. Aoi then gave Aya some instructions for the maid to do in the kitchen, and then as Aya left, turned back to Rin.

Rin looked up, meeting her mother's eyes. Aoi stared back, the two of them staying silent until the maid was out of earshot. "Do you…" Aoi began falteringly. "Do you think she'll be our enemy?"

Rin looked away, her face twisted in a grimace at the thought. After several moments she shook her head, but even as she answered it was clear she trying to convince herself as well.

"No, I don't think she'll be the Edelfelt Master." Rin said. "Most likely, it'll be Luviagelita Edelfelt, the heiress of the Edelfelt Clan or if not her, her twin Marjatta. But seeing as Luviagelita is the more active of the Edelfelt twins, she'll likely be the one."

"Then…"

Rin was silent, sitting unspeaking for a few minutes straight. "She will come." She said. "Either way, whether it's Marjatta or Luviagelita, she'll be coming with them. I know she will. As far as I know, she's their closest retainer among the branch heirs and heiresses of the current generation. And if either of them comes, there's no way…Marika, won't be coming too."

"So she'll be fighting with them." Aoi whispered. "Against us…as an enemy…"

Rin didn't answer, but after a several moments she sighed, briefly closing her eyes before getting up. "They're her family." She said simply, and causing Aoi to look away. "I'm sorry, but…but I have something to finish working on in my workshop. If you'll excuse me…"

Aoi looked up and towards her daughter as she briskly walked towards the doorway, and then as Rin stepped over the threshold, spoke up. "What will you do?" she asked softly, and causing Rin to freeze. "What will you do, when you see and face her on the other side?"

Rin couldn't answer. She couldn't. How could she?

"I don't know."

* * *

A/N

I'll admit I'm taking some liberties with the Tohsaka here, both in terms of their past and their relationship with the Church. With that said, I don't think it's going too far. For one thing, the Tohsaka are explicitly mentioned to have owned the territory of Fuyuki, and even before they were magi. Now while commoners in Tokugawa Japan could own land, Fuyuki is canonically as big as Kobe. To own that big a piece of land under the Tokugawa, one would have to be a feudal lord, even a low-ranking one.

I also understand that the original Fuyuki might not have been as large as it would eventually become, and that the original piece of land may have been small enough for wealthy commoners to own even under the Tokugawa, but I'm sticking with the bigger assumption. If nothing else, it should close the gap with their Finnish cousins to an extent.

As for their relationship with the Church, well again IIRC there were explicitly mentioned to have been secret Christians. I don't think it's too far to assume the Church at the time used that as an angle to at least have a little influence in Tokugawa Japan. And the bit about the Church using the Tohsaka to keep the Grail from being used to alter the world by a victor's wishes by having it used once and for all to reach the Root is canon.

Finally, before people ask why do I keep mentioning the Tokugawa…the fifth war was in 2004. The fourth war was in 1994. The third war was between 1934 and 1944. The second war was between 1874 and 1884. That puts the first war between 1814 and 1824, and the Meiji Restoration took place in the 1860s. So yes, the Tohsaka would be secret Christians and feudal lords/wealthy landowning commoners under the Tokugawa Shogunate.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 9

"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the Archduke of Contracts be the foundation. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."

A sickly Moon peered through the clouds, casting feeble light through a forest in the dead of winter. Here and there evergreens stood, dark green leaves heavy with snow, but most trees and plant life had shed their greenery months since, and clawed at the uncaring heavens with empty and desolate branches. Snow lay heavy on the ground, masking the sound of padded feet as the pack slowly stalked between the trees, towards a clearing in the middle of the forest.

A small, childlike figure was there, dressed only in a white smock and without even slippers for her feet against the frozen ground. She was crouched down on the ground, a hand against the circle carved into it, which glowed bright with light as she spoke the words of her spell.

"Let it be declared now: your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. Answer, if you would submit to this will and truth."

Normally, wolves would never prey on Humans, preferring to avoid them and be avoided in turn. But in the dead of winter, when food is scarce and nature is biting cruel, the invitation of a helpless and seemingly-abandoned little kitten running alone through the forest was hard to resist.

And the child knew it.

And that was exactly the point.

Unless she could successfully summon a Servant, the same Servant she would stake her and her family's efforts in the coming Fifth Holy Grail War on, the wolves would feast on her flesh. She _had_ to succeed, and that sense of urgency and need would further increase the chances of a successful summoning ritual by a not-insignificant amount.

"An oath shall be sworn here: I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven, and I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."

The wolves stopped short of the clearing, and with a series of growls and flicks of their ears and tails, spread out, surrounding the clearing so as to cut off their prey from any way to run. Those of the pack already in place stared hungrily at the child, who – seemingly unaware of their presence – continued to crouch at the edge of the glowing circle, a hand on its outer edge, eyes closed but with her face directed at a small box in the middle of the circle.

"Yet you shall serve with your eyes clouded by chaos, for you would be one caged in madness, and I shall wield your chains."

The alpha growled long and low, and cautiously took the first padded step into the clearing. A few more, and he was fully within, eyes fixed on the child, her long, gold-silver hair shining with reflected light.

In the alpha's wake, other wolves followed, all a few paces behind him even as they approached from all sides. And then the child opened her eyes, blood-red irises almost seeming to glow as she finished her spell.

"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, Protector of the Holy Balance!"

The circle flared blinding-bright, the wolves growling and yelping as they began to back off from this sudden eruption of light…and in the next moment, their own instincts warning them of another predator looming over them.

But it was too late, and blood fountained through the air to splatter against the ground.

The alpha died with a pitiful yelp, sheared in two by a gleaming sword engraved with blood-red runes. A surprisingly-petite figure in gleaming plate and a fully-enclosing helmet wielded the sword, and as the alpha's corpse fell steaming to the ground, the other wolves barked angrily before pouncing on the threat in their midst.

Steel flashed through the air twice, four wolves falling dying to the ground as they were split open. A wolf vainly bit down on an arm, only to be smashed to the ground and then crushed with an armored boot to die in agony. Another had its head bashed in with an armored elbow, before another had its head and much of its torso reduced to bloody ruin by a downward swing of the Servant's sword, and another wolf had its head bashed open by a gauntleted fist's backhand.

A two-handed swing gutted two more wolves, and thus broken, the survivors of the pack fled yelping and howling. Only, the Servant refused to let them go, holding its sword with two hands while charging after them.

Snow and dirt blew into the air as an explosion of wind accompanied the Servant's charge, followed by blood and pitiful yelps and barks…

…and then it was over. A cold breeze mournfully began to blow through the forest, and whipped through the child's blood-splattered hair and clothes.

She'd turned away from the circle, and now stared at the mangled corpses of nearly two dozen wolves that littered one side of the clearing and the nearby part of the forest beyond. She rose to her feet as the Servant approached, blood dripping from its sword and splattered over its armor.

Illyasviel von Einzbern stared impassively at her Servant's masked face, ignoring the numbness of her body from the cold, and the instinctive fear of facing an unknown that had proven itself capable of such casual brutality. She had not shown fear or weakness when the potential death sentence of the circumstances wherein she should summon her Servant had been told to her, nor had she faltered as she sensed the wolves closing in as she summoned her Servant.

She would not show it now, not now, in her moment of triumph.

No fear. No weaknesses.

She _was_ the master.

Moments passed like an eternity, and as the breeze died, there was the sharp and harsh sounds of mechanisms coming to life, Illyasviel's eyes widening as the Servant's mask and helmet unlocked like a mechanical flower, plates and segments folding or sliding back against or into its armor. They widened even wider as she saw her Servant's face, a face she remembered from ten years ago…before…before…

…before the betrayal…

…the abandonment…

…and in that instant, she smiled, and truly knew she had her perfect Servant. It was a smile that thirsted for blood, promising pain and ruination to those who stood against her, and vengeance for past wrongs.

Berserker grinned at the sight of the strangely-familiar fire in her Master's eyes and smile…but, was she really?

"I ask of you," she began. "Are you my Master?"

* * *

While one Master was busy summoning her Servant well ahead of the appointed time, in a land that was considered by many to be the closest the world would have to a fairy tale 'winter wonderland', the Edelfelt Clan and many of its allies and vassals were holding their Christmas celebration. While as magi they did not attach any real spiritual significance to the occasion, it was still however a holiday to celebrate, and celebrate they did.

The ancestral property of the Edelfelt Clan in Lapland is a parklike area approximately three square kilometers in size, within driving distance of the regional capital at Rovaniemi. The center of the property is a large mansion, enough to house the main family with room for several branch families if needed, built in the Neoclassical Style popular in the 19th Century Russian Empire, which Finland had been part of at the time.

Apart from the main mansion, there are also smaller mansions, villas, lodges, and other buildings and magical facilities scattered across the grounds. And on the Christmas night of 2003, golden light shone warm and bright through the windows and from the exterior lights of the central mansion, while music from an orchestra echoed out from the few open doors into the softly-snowing night.

Family guards in winter uniforms and ceremonial weapons that would not have been out of place for 19th Century Imperial regiments raised in Finland greeted guests arriving fashionably late on sleighs and skis, bowing them into an antechamber where liveried attendants that echoed those of the glittering courts of Saint Petersburg in the heyday of the Tsars took their cloaks before showing them to the ballroom. The light of crystal chandeliers shone down on a scene out of _Anna Karenina_ , couples dancing to orchestral music as others watched and gossiped from the sidelines, attendants went to and fro with crystal glasses of champagne on silver trays, and others busied themselves with finger food from tables set along the walls.

Apart from the ballroom, sitting rooms and parlors of the mansion hosted Edelfelts and their vassals and allies holding private meetings and discussions among themselves, as well as other activities besides. Not everything going on was strictly or even formally professional, and in many cases it was just a matter of friends and relatives spending time with each other, and with more than a few being purely private affairs in more ways than one.

A girl of sixteen wandered down the rectangular expanse of a drawing room, examining the paintings mounted on the walls. She wore a sleeveless, simple but elegant gown of pale blue, with a flower of matching color pinned over her left shoulder, her dark brown hair elegantly-curled and then partly tied back into a simple bun simply but tastefully embellished with a single, pale blue feather. Silver and sapphires glittered in a necklace around her neck, and held lightly in one hand was a pale blue-lacquered folding fan.

The girl stopped before a single painting, that of a tall, mustachioed, dark-haired man wearing the uniform of a cavalry captain in the 19th Century Russian Imperial Army. Marika Edelfelt silently regarded the painting for a few moments, and then her reverie was broken by a young man's voice.

"Invoking _Art Nouveau_ , are you?"

Marika blinked and glanced to one side, and then turning gave a polite curtsy. "Adalbert," she said with cheerful surprise. "You're here!"

The tall nineteen-year old wearing a Finnish Army dress uniform laughed, and taking a pair of champagne glasses from a passing attendant handed one to her. "Of course I am." he said. "It's Christmas after all, and so I've managed to get leave just for today and tomorrow to attend the festivities. And then I have to report back to camp for the remainder of my term of service."

Marika tilted her head, her curls swinging gently with the movement. "I see." He said. "So how's it going for you?"

Adalbert Edelfelt sighed. "It's hard." He said. "At first at least, getting used to military life when we all grew up with a privileged background."

"Complaining?"

"Of course not," Adalbert said with a dismissive wave of a hand. "I'm just stating a fact, that's all. And it's a necessary obligation, to keep the country safe."

"Yes, it is." Marika said, raising her glass in a toast, which Adalbert returned before they drained their glasses. "As for your earlier question, no, I am not."

"Oh?"

Marika smiled lightly. "I'm not invoking _Art Nouveau_." She said. "This dress of mine isn't nearly as extravagant enough for it."

"Perhaps," Adalbert said. "Though the feather and the flower you're sporting certainly invoke it."

Marika's smile twitched wider. "Perhaps," she said.

"Anyway," Adalbert said with a sigh. "I'm going to go mingle some more, so I take my leave."

Marika nodded, and then remembered something as her cousin bowed and turned away. "Wait," she said. "Before you go, do you know where Luvia is?"

"Luviagelita's off playing cards with Marjatta and some others in the Spring Parlor."

"I see, thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

"Did you know?"

"No."

Two identical blonde girls sat at a round table in a parlor decorated with frescoes and paintings of spring, even as snow fell outside the closed windows. They were identical down to the cheekbones and eyebrows, and even sported the same style of elaborately-curled hair. They also wore identical white, sleeveless, off the shoulder gowns, with elaborate lace embroidery over the skirt and around the edges.

They even sounded the same, and it would take but a little effort for one or the other to assume the other's identity with few being the wiser without the use of magical means. "Apparently Atrum Galliasta's a little sore about me beating him to the punch." Luviagelita Edelfelt remarked, discarding one card and taking another.

"Sounds like a sore loser then." Marjatta Edelfelt answered, also discarding a card and taking another one. "And?"

There were others in the parlor too, either sitting at the table despite having since folded to watch the game continue, while others quietly chatted among themselves along the sidelines. "I hear he's been referring to me as an 'impudent blonde brat'." Luvia said.

"How mature of him." Marjatta remarked.

"Quite," Luvia agreed, waiting for Marjatta's turn to finish, before upping her bet by sliding a couple of coins forward.

"If anything, he'd the impudent one." Marjatta said, also upping her bet, though with only a single coin. "I know Galliasta's an up and coming family, and when it comes to our faction talent and achievement count as much as lineage does, but that's just it isn't it? In none of those three categories does he or his family come even close to ours."

"In this case perhaps the aristocrats might have a point." Luvia said. "Tolerating people like him shames us all."

"Dangerous words to say," Marjatta said. "Considering how contrary they are to ideal and policy alike."

"Perhaps," Luvia admitted. "But, it's not just me. I hear plenty in our faction are growing disaffected with him and others like him. He stains not just our faction's reputation for encouraging and cultivating the healthy growth of young and promising lineages and talents, but our reputation as magi in itself."

"Oh?"

"Some of his methods are less than appropriate apparently." Luvia said. "I've heard at least one person denounced him as a mere spell-caster."

Marjatta chuckled. "That must have gone down well." She said.

"Lord Waver El-Melloi II intervened before things could get too heated, apparently."

"A shame,"

"Indeed," Luvia said before smiling, and put her hand on the table. "Looks like I win Marjatta: four Jacks."

Marjatta smiled back. "Sorry big sister," she said, also putting her hand on the table. "But I have a four of a kind too: four Queens."

Luvia made a disappointed sound. "Bad luck," she said laconically, pushing several stacks of coins across the table.

Marjatta just smiled. "Another…" she began only to break off as a dark-haired girl entered the parlor. "Oh hello, Marika."

"Hello." Marika returned the greeting as she walked up to the table. Luvia and Marjatta grinned as one.

"So," they began. "Who is who?"

Marika didn't hesitate. "This is Luvia." She said, pointing a finger at Luvia before pointing at Marjatta. "And this is Marjatta."

"And your reasoning?" the twins asked.

Marika's lips twitched with amusement. "Do you really want to know?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I cheated."

There was a moment of profound silence, and then Marjatta burst out laughing. From there the laughter spread, until everyone was laughing while Marika just shrugged in a 'what can you do' gesture.

"Cheaters never prosper you know." Luvia said reprovingly, and Marika rolled her eyes.

"We're magi." She said. "We cheat all the time. That's what magecraft is all about after all: twisting the rules and abusing the loopholes thereof of the World to replicate miracles."

"Well yes, but…"

Luvia trailed off, visibly trying to defend her position, but after several moments she just settled for a dark glare. "Cheat." She accused, causing Marika to shrug again and setting off another round of laughter.

"Seriously though," Marjatta said, gathering all the cards together. "Anyone with the right mysteries can use them to tell me and Luvia apart, but you have an unfair advantage even in that regard."

"How so?" Marika asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Marjatta asked back. "That Sorcery Trait of yours lets you…pick up, for lack of a better way to call it, the spiritual echoes people send out. And as a single-action spell to boot."

"Too wordy," Marika said. "Let's just say I'm sensitive to people's auras, and leave it at that. As for using them to recognize people, that's only if I'm familiar enough with a specific person or persons' auras to differentiate between them."

"You can use them to tell where people are though." Luvia said. "Barring magical means of countering magical detection, of course."

"Anyway enough about that," Marjatta said. "Another round, Luvia? Anyone? How about you Marika?"

"Oh no," Marika said with a shake of her head. "I never gamble with my money, only with my life."

"Oh what a good girl you are." Marjatta teased. "Come on, it's just for fun. It's not like we're playing big here, just a few pennies at most that's all."

"You mean cents."

Marjatta made a disgusted sound. "What the hell are those politicians in Helsinki doing," she muttered to an agreeing air from everyone in the room, including Marika. "Selling this country out to German and Belgian bankers."

"No politics." Luvia said firmly, and after a moment of gloomy silence Marika pulled up a chair.

"Alright, I'm in." she said. "With that said, I didn't bring any money, so anyone care to lend me some starter?"

The good mood returned, and Marjatta cheerfully pushed a stack of coins towards Marika. The brunette gave it a skeptical look. "Just a few pennies at most?" she echoed.

"Give or take." Marjatta said with a shrug, and eliciting another ripple of laughter across the room. "Though, you're not much of a good girl after all, are you?"

"Perhaps," Marika said with a smile and a roll of her eyes before cutting the offered deck and handing it back to Marjatta. "But, since I've already said I'm in, I might as well give it all my luck."

"That's the spirit."

* * *

Kaleva Edelfelt wordlessly handed the wooden case to his cousin, who opened it and examined the cartridges. "Fifty," Kaleva said laconically.

Alphonse Edelfelt looked surprised. "That's a lot more than I expected." He said.

Kaleva shrugged. "Just in case." He said. "Besides, they'll be up against an archmagus. Better to have some extra, just in case your worries are more than just nerves."

"And who is going up against an archmagus?" a woman's voice asked questioningly.

The two men turned to see one of their cousins approaching, Lofn Haraldsdottr-Edelfelt. Born of wedlock, she'd eventually been legitimized after her talent and character had been proven beyond all reasonable doubt, and was held to be an example of what a proper Edelfelt woman was supposed to be: proper yet intelligent, kind yet strong-willed, and of course skilled in the fields that mattered.

The tall, flame-haired woman was already in her late forties, yet age had not taken away her sharp beauty as much as it had deepened it. She wore a sleeveless gown that matched her hair and sported elaborate lace embroidery in black around the edges and over the skirt, while pearls gleamed around her neck.

"Luviagelita and Marika will be." Alphonse said, prompting Lofn to raise a red eyebrow in response.

"An archmagus will be participating?" she asked. "That's rather provocative of whichever family is participating."

"Not really," Alphonse disagreed. "Seeing as Zouken Matou is the last of his family, whether it's provocative or not is meaningless. Unless he participates himself, then his family – which helped start the Grail wars – will not be able to participate."

"Is he actually an archmagus?" Lofn asked skeptically.

"He might as well be." Kaleva said. "Our research indicates he was old when cousin Tokiomi was young."

Kaleva paused and glanced towards Alphonse. "Alphonse here thinks there's more to him than meets the eye, and not in a good way." He said.

Alphonse stayed silent, and Lofn continued after a moment. "Old magi _are_ usually more powerful than the norm." she said cautiously. "And he wouldn't be the first magus to use magecraft to extend their lifespan beyond the norm either."

"It's not just that." Alphonse cut in. "For some reason, the idea of him being anywhere _near_ Marika gives me a very bad feeling. Call it a...parent's, intuition."

Lofn narrowed her eyes at that, and after a moment she sighed. "On one hand," she said. "I'd say such an…unquantifiable reasoning, strikes me as unfit for an Edelfelt magus. But on the other hand, I'm a parent myself, and a veteran to boot. I know better than to ignore subconscious things like this."

She sighed again and shrugged. "As I said earlier," she began. "Older magi are usually more powerful than the norm. If Zouken Matou really is as old as you say he is, then there's probably more than a grain of truth to your worries. And even if they turn out to be exaggerated, it's better to be prepared than not in case they don't turn out to be."

"Zouken Matou is also the last of his family." Kaleva added. "He'd probably use the Grail if he wins it to change that. Urgency and desperation make for powerful motivators."

"Quite," Lofn agreed, Alphonse also nodding in agreement. She held out a hand. "May I?"

Alphonse handed her a cartridge, and she held it up to regard it with a practiced eye. Magic circuits flickered briefly over her arm, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Is this what I think it is?" she asked.

"Alphonse owes me a lot." Kaleva said. "Both financially and obligatory."

He met eyes with his cousin, and then smiled, taking the edge off. "Then again," Kaleva continued. "Luvia will also be there, and while I don't have the same…subconscious, response as Alphonse had, an archmagus as an enemy is an archmagus as an enemy. So I might cut you some slack, if only because this benefits Luvia as well. _Some_ , mind: those things were expensive, and I had to call in more than a few favors to finally get the alchemists to work on them."

"Put it on a tab," Alphonse said. "I'll pay it back, sooner or later. Preferably sooner, but not so much as it'll inconvenience me or my daughter and household."

"Understandable," Kaleva said with a nod.

"Thank you."

"Apart from the Matou archmagus," Lofn said, holding out the cartridge for Alphonse to take. "Who else will be participating in the Fifth Holy Grail War?"

"Us obviously," Alphonse said, grinning as Lofn gave him a withering glare and eliciting some laughter from Kaleva. "Then there's our Tohsaka cousin, well, niece, since she's the only one left of her family as well, and of course Einzbern. They're being as secluded as usual though, so I don't know who among them will be the Einzbern Master. The Association will also send a Master of their own to represent the organization in general, though who that is I don't know."

Lofn and Alphonse glanced at Kaleva, who nodded once. "It's an Enforcer by the name of Bazett Fraga McRemitz," he said. "She's from an old bloodline, very old, dating back to the Age of Gods in fact. Ironically, her family magecraft and Sorcery Trait are scorned by the Association academia as, well, unorthodox."

"What a shame," Lofn said with a shake of her head.

"She's got plenty of experience on her though." Kaleva said worriedly. "She's probably going to be the most dangerous Master the girls will be facing, well, the second most dangerous, if Zouken has the power matching his age then he'll be the most dangerous."

"In my opinion he's the most dangerous for Marika, no matter what." Alphonse said darkly. "Before she leaves, I'm telling that girl not to play around with him. When she encounters the bastard, kill him. Shoot him dead, blow him up, it doesn't matter: kill him as quickly and as thoroughly as she can. Failing that, get the hell out of there as quickly as she can or have Luviagelita's Servant deal with him."

"That's rather…emphatic." Lofn remarked with some surprise.

"I did say I have a very bad feeling about him."

"Yes, you did." Lofn said with a nod and narrowed eyes. "And for some reason I find myself going along your pace on this matter."

The two shared a glance before turning back to Kaleva. "Anyone else?" Lofn asked.

"Five spots filled," Kaleva said. "But of the remaining two, I know of only one: Atrum Galliasta will apparently be participating as well. Who the final Master will be I have no idea."

"Atrum Galliasta," Lofn murmured before her eyes went flat. "Isn't he the one speaking ill of our family in London, over Luviagelita beating him to the punch over a catalyst to summon a Servant with?"

"Yes," Kaleva said with sparks all but literally flying from his eyes. "In fact, I hear he's been calling Luvia an 'impudent blonde brat'. Well, Luvia _is_ blonde, and she can be impudent at times, but my daughter is not and never will be a brat. If not for the coming war meaning Luvia will have a chance to avenge her honor in person against that impudent fool, I'd teach him his place once holidays come to an end."

"Luviagelita and Marika should do fine against a loudmouthed braggart like him." Lofn said. "The same against their Tohsaka cousin. Though…"

The men shared glances as Lofn trailed off, the flame-haired woman walking over to a window to look out at the snowy landscape beyond. "I know both girls are far from helpless or inexperienced," she said. "But, compared to them so much of their opposition – the Matou archmagus, the Association Enforcer, and likely the Einzbern Master and the unknown final Master – will be so much more formidable than they are."

The men couldn't answer, and after a few moments Lofn turned back to them. "Is this really alright, sending them to a blood sport like this in a couple of months?" she asked.

"Of course it isn't." Kaleva eventually said. "If I could, I'd take Luvia's command spells and participate in her place. But, what would that say to her, that I don't have any faith in her abilities? There are other reasons of course, but that alone is enough. She's almost a woman full grown, and her training will soon be complete: this war, it's like a rite of passage for her. She might not say it, but to her, this will show me, us, the entirety of magus society, that she is worthy of the role that is her birthright. I _can't_ take it away from her. What kind of father would I be if I did?"

"I'm in the same predicament here." Alphonse said with a sigh. "Given my misgivings, I'd be very happy to simply order Marika not to accompany Luviagelita. But, they're almost like sisters, so if I did, she'd never forgive me for it. And more than that, well, it's as you said Kaleva: could I really tell her that I don't have any faith in her abilities, be it to protect herself or her cousin? Deny her the chance to show that she isn't just a castoff taken in to fulfil the unfulfilled formalities from over half a century ago?"

Kaleva nodded, and Lofn sighed. "So in the end," she said. "All we can do is believe in them, and in what they can do when they believe in themselves?"

"Yes." Kaleva said softly, and Alphonse nodded.

"That's all we can do for when the war finally starts." He said, rolling the cartridge in his hand before returning it to its case. "But until then, we'll do what we can do to help them maximize their chances."

He held up the case and gently shook it in the air. "Like this, for example." He said.

Kaleva and Lofn nodded, and after a moment Lofn said. "Well," she said. "If nothing else, their youth means they may be underestimated. Hopefully, that may tilt the balance further."

"Yes, there's that too."

"Indeed."

* * *

A/N

Well, Berserker's been summoned early as usual, though it's not the same Servant from canon. I'll give you two guesses but you're only going to need one.


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 10

"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the Archduke of Contracts be the foundation. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."

Rin Tohsaka stood at the edge of the summoning circle, eyes closed and with a hand raised over the circle, and the other clutching a book to her chest. The circle glowed bright blue, bathing the magus and her workshop with its light, while an ethereal wind gently whipped through the magus' hair.

The box containing Rin's catalyst rested in the middle of the circle, taken from the ruins of a temple in a ruined city along the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. She had originally intended to summon a Saber Class Servant, the most outstanding in terms of overall performance, but ultimately opted for the Archer Class, judging its unmatched versatility to be preferable among the 'Three Knights' of the seven Servant classes.

The selection of an appropriate Servant was more difficult however.

"Let it be declared now: your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. Answer, if you would submit to this will and truth."

She had briefly considered using the same Archer as her father had, but her father's comments in his journal on the difficulty of controlling the King of Heroes' moods and idiosyncrasies had led her to reject the idea. If her father, a fully trained magus and a model parent and social figure, could barely control the King of Heroes, well, despite his confidence that she could do better in his place, Rin decided to take a prudent course.

 _Know thyself._

She'd also considered the legendary archer of Indian myth, Arjuna, but while she had no doubt he would make a fine Archer, she didn't have the time to scour the vast Indian subcontinent for a readily-available catalyst. Even the Tohsaka Clan's connections in the Association were of little use: India, like Asia in general, was largely outside of the Association's sphere, because of both distance and the Association's disregard for Orientals in general.

"An oath shall be sworn here: I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven, and I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."

Rin then considered Hercules, the mightiest of Greek heroes, and among heroes in general second in achievement only to Gilgamesh of Uruk. And more to the point, a skilled and renowned archer in his own right. Between his great achievements, his heroic yet humble character, and his proven skills both in general and specifically as an archer, her choice was made. The catalyst had been retrieved without difficulty, and delivered to Japan with time to spare.

"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, Protector of the Holy Balance!"

The circle flared bright, blindingly-so, as she finished the aria, Rin opening her eyes as she did so. As glittering motes coalesced into a figure in the middle of the circle, she smiled in triumph.

" _I did it!_ " she thought. " _I have my Servant!_ "

But then, the smile faded, and her eyes widened in shock and surprise, as the Servant's appearance grew distinct and clear, only it was nothing like would be expected of one such as Hercules. The circle dimmed and grew dark, leaving the Servant, her Master, and her Master's mother standing in the half-light of Rin's workshop.

"I am Atalanta," the woman in green and black with a cat's tail and ears spoke in a soft yet strong voice. "The Chaste Huntress, Slayer of the Calydonian Boar, Argonaut, and Beloved of Artemis. I am the Archer of the Fifth Holy Grail War. And I assume you to be my Master, are you not?"

Rin could only gape, wide-eyed at her Servant. Archer tilted her head, eyebrow quirked questioningly. "Is something the matter?" she asked.

 _WHAT?_

* * *

 _Everything was burning. The city was burning. People were burning. He kept walking. He walked past the fires and through the ruins, ignoring the cries for help from all around him. He wasn't the only one there. But he kept walking. He walked past them._

 _He wasn't in a daze either, driven purely by primal instincts of survival. It hurt. Exposed skin reddened and cloth turned black from the heat of the flames around him. His chest hurt as smoke and soot entered his lungs with every breath. But he could think. The boy was perfectly aware of everything that was happening around him. Even so, he ignored the pleas for help and just kept on walking._

 _He didn't know who he was. He didn't know where he came from. He didn't know why he was there. He couldn't find the answers. He couldn't remember them either, if he even knew._

 _All he knew was that he had to survive. He would survive, and live to see another day, while everyone else died. He would escape the pain and the suffering where others would not. He was a sinner, and he would know it later on._

 _He would never forget._

 _He kept on walking._

 _But as night gave way to the morning, the flames began to die, and rain began to fall. The flames vanished, and smoke and steam rose from hissing ruins. The pain was still there. But he was alive. He'd lived to see another day. But the will to live that had driven him for so long was also spent, and the boy fell to the ground._

 _He'd come this far. It was enough, wasn't it? He'd left so many behind to die, just for this moment. Now that he'd done that, perhaps…perhaps it was his turn?_

 _Darkness began to fall across the boy's eyes, but as he closed his eyes he felt footsteps approach._

 _He wasn't alone. Someone else was there. He opened his eyes, seeing a dark-haired man weeping from desperate eyes as he fell to his knees beside him. They weren't tears of sorrow though. The tears…the man's face…it was as though he'd found something incredibly priceless, something that he'd been searching for his entire life._

 _The man did something. The boy felt something warm creep across his body, and began to feel better. The man picked him up and held him close, the rain continuing to fall around them._

"Shirou…Shirou…Shirou…!"

Shirou Emiya opened his eyes, sitting up abruptly and causing the woman standing next to him to straighten with satisfaction. "Fuji-nee?" he asked, and winced as the woman lightly swatted him on the back of his head.

"Don't 'Fuji-nee', me." Taiga Fujimura chided with her hands on her hips. "Do you know what time it is? Or even how dirty you are? Not to mention falling asleep in here of all places."

"Well, good morning to you too."

"Shirou!" Taiga snapped, and Shirou sighed.

"I got it, I got it." He said, getting to his feet. "It's just that…well, I lost track of the time working on, well, my stuff, and before I knew it I'd drifted to sleep."

Taiga sighed. "If only you applied that mindset to your studies," she lamented. "You'd probably be the top student."

"What?" Shirou said unhappily. "I don't skip out on schoolwork, you know? And I finished all of yesterday's homework before coming here."

"Then you should have gone to sleep afterwards instead of whatever it is you do here." Taiga said, looking around the storehouse with an unhappy expression on her face.

Shirou made a disagreeing sound, but didn't say anything to that effect. "Yes, yes," he said instead. "I'll do better next time."

"In other words," Taiga said. "You won't let yourself get caught like this again. Well, it's fine. So long as you spend the night in a proper bedroom instead of in here. Now then,"

Shirou blinked as Taiga went around to his back, and then yelped as he stumbled forward from a firm shove. "What was that for?" he asked over a shoulder before Taiga began firmly shoving him (again) towards the door.

"Off to the bath with you, Shirou." Taiga said insistently. "Honestly, you're so hardworking and reliable, but sometimes you make nee-chan worry so much, you know?"

"…I…I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Taiga said with a smile. "Well, I'll take care of breakfast so off you go!"

"Yes, yes."

* * *

Archer idly played with one of her ears while observing her Master finish taking her breakfast. Rin hadn't taken her – Archer's summoning – well, ranting about how it didn't make sense she had been summoned when the artefact used as a catalyst had been taken from a Temple of Hercules.

 _Hercules wouldn't have liked that, being worshipped as a god after his death. He never did care much for people's adoration, just doing the right thing was enough for him. And of course, with worship comes ritual sacrifices._

 _What was that he used to say? Sacrifices don't solve anything?_

 _Then again, he said that because people more often than not tried to appease some monster or another with sacrificial offerings of children and maidens, but still…_

It wasn't until Rin examined the archeological maps her agents had used that she discovered that their interpreter had made a misinterpretation. How it had happened neither Rin nor Archer knew, but somehow they'd mixed up the Temples of Hercules and Artemis with each other.

 _That_ explained why she – Archer – had been summoned by Rin in Hercules' place.

After discovering this mistake, Rin had slammed her head against the table, murmured something about 'incompetents' and 'flogging' before trudging off to bed, and saying they'd talk some more later. Seeing as it was already very early in the morning by then, 'later' was only a matter of a few hours.

Archer waited until Aoi had taken away the dirty plates and utensils in front of Rin before speaking up. "Are you still dissatisfied with how things have developed, Master?" she asked.

"It's not that I'm dissatisfied with you." Rin replied. "It's just that it's frustrating to have my hopes dashed when I've been looking forward to having Hercules as a Servant."

Rin paused, placing her teacup on a saucer before continuing. "I apologize though," she said. "For comparing you unfavorably with Hercules, even though you've given me the honor of accepting my call and becoming my Servant."

"Apology accepted," Archer said with a smile. "And it is not needed. I knew Hercules in life, and considered him a friend. His deeds tower over any that came before and after, just as he towered over any man or woman of the day, though in my belief it was the greatness of his heart that was his greatest aspect. Just to be compared to him, is an honor in itself."

"I see." Rin said with a nod. "That's good to hear."

"Master," Archer began seriously, causing Rin to blink. "I am aware that my abilities and deeds don't amount to those of Hercules, much less my stature or even my heart compared to his. I admit it: I am a coldhearted woman. But even so, for the sake of my wish, I will do everything I can to ensure our success."

Rin raised an eyebrow at the brazen admission of selfishness on Archer's part. Specifically, she mentioned her wish as her primary motivation for success. Not untrue, as why else would a Heroic Spirit consent to be subordinated to a magus but to have a single desire of their heart be granted, but to actually say so aloud was…unexpected.

"And what is your wish?" Rin asked.

"You are aware of my past, yes?" Archer asked, and Rin nodded. "Then my wish is simply to have no other child go through what I went through as a child. Every child deserves to be raised with love, and with the power of the Holy Grail, I shall ensure that it will be so."

Rin's eyes widened in surprise, at the paradox before her. The one making the wish admits her selfish motivation for fighting in the war, and yet the wish she would have granted is quite possibly the most selfless wish Rin could possibly have thought of.

"I…see." Rin said softly.

Archer tilted her head. "And what is your wish, Master?" she asked.

Rin didn't answer at once, politely draining her teacup before getting to her feet. "I'm not sure yet." She said, much to Archer's surprise. "I…what I want…is to properly honor the legacy of my family, and advance it. But…"

Rin sighed and trailed off, before favoring Archer with a smile. "I guess I'll have to figure it out before the war ends, right?" she said.

Archer blinked, and then returned the smile. "Yes, it certainly seems that way." She said. "If so, then this war shall be as a journey for you, to find how to properly express and achieve your heart's desire."

Rin nodded before turning away. "I have to go to school now, so we'll have to talk about your Noble Phantasms later." She said. "Of course, I'll have you come with me, but remain in astral form, and conceal your spiritual presence as best you can."

Archer nodded, and then faded from view. Rin sighed, and then left the living room towards the foyer, and thence for school.

* * *

Students bustled on the sidewalks, making their way towards school. Among them was a boy with red hair and golden eyes, humming cheerfully to himself as he walked in a relaxed fashion to his destination.

"Emiya!" the shout echoed through the air, breaking the morning reverie. Shirou and a few others turned to the direction of the shout curiously, but apart from Shirou most put it out of mind once they saw who it was. "Hey Emiya!"

"Good morning, Mitsuzuri." Shirou said with a smile as an athletic-looking girl ran up to him, having paused to let the girl catch up.

"Good morning." Ayako Mitsuzuri returned the greeting.

"Any reason why you're chasing after me so early in the morning?" Shirou asked as they resumed walking.

"Chasing after you? Hey now," Ayako said before playfully tapping the back of Shirou's head. "Don't say anything that might cause people to misunderstand. It's just been a while since we've had a good talk, even a short one, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Shirou said with a small laugh and rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

"So, how are things?"

Ayako sighed. "Could be better," she said. "And I mean you coming back to the club would make things a whole lot better."

Shirou didn't answer at once, though he did make a thoughtful sound at that. "But," he said. "You don't really need me around, do you? You aside, Shinji's probably as good as I am, and the rest of team's also quite good too."

"That may be so," Ayako said with a glance at Shirou. "But having another brilliant archer with us isn't a bad thing either."

"Guess not." Shirou admitted, the two of them sharing a laugh at that.

"Well," Ayako began. "It's not so much that I have anything against him personally, but, Matou is just really, well, gloomy. He might not say or do anything that hurts morale or damages the club and the team's reputation and image or anything of the sort, but…"

"But…?"

Ayako sighed again. "That's just it." She said. "He's just too damn gloomy. And when he gets into his moods he's a bit hard to talk to."

Shirou stayed quiet as Ayako also fell quiet for about a minute or so before continuing. "I take back what I say earlier, or rather let me put it a different way." She said. "He doesn't actively do anything bad for the club and team, but all his doom and gloom – on bad days usually – isn't good for us either."

Shirou made an unhappy sound while rubbing his head. "Aren't you being too hard on him?" he asked. "His parents died when he was a kid, and worse – though I don't know the details – both of them died in front of him."

"He's not the only person I know of who grew up in a broken home." Ayako shot back. "I know of other people who had traumatic pasts but didn't end up all 'woe is me' and things like that."

"Yes, I know." Shirou said with a surprising (even to himself) amount of bite. Ayako caught his meaning, and blinking, looked away shamefaced.

"Sorry," she said softly. "I went too far there. I shouldn't have said that."

Shirou sighed, and patted his friend's shoulder. "It's fine." He said. "You didn't really mean anything by it."

Ayako nodded, and Shirou continued. "Well," he said. "I'll see what I can do and talk to him. Hopefully today isn't a bad day though."

Ayako nodded again before looking back at Shirou. "Thanks." She said.

"You're welcome."

The two of them walked in silence for a bit after that, though it wouldn't be long before Ayako spoke up again. "So," she began. "How are things on your end?"

"Well,"

* * *

Caren was sitting down to enjoy breakfast, her daily routine having her hold morning mass first before breaking her fast for the day. Two toasted slices of rye bread, scrambled eggs and orange juice were laid out on the table for her, but as she finished saying thanks and was about to begin eating, there was a knock on the front door.

Fighting down a natural if unwelcome surge of irritation at being disturbed – the Lord's house was open to any and all at all times after all – Caren rose from her seat, and swiftly if elegantly swept through the interior of the church, heading for the front door. Even then however, the person at the front knocked twice more before she arrived.

 _Curious…why didn't they simply enter though, and wait inside the church itself?_

"Yes," Caren said as she opened the doors. "How may I be of assistance?"

The priestess blinked, her mouth slightly dropping as she caught sight of the person waiting at the front door. It was a blonde boy, between eight to ten years old, wearing a gold-edged shirt of blue that left his midriff bare, over patterned, dark brown shorts and white rubber shoes, as well as a loose-fitting, hooded jacket of white. The most striking characteristic of the boy though was his eyes, or rather their irises: they were red, the color of fresh blood.

 _Vampire…? Mystic eyes…?_

 _Or is it –_ _ **is he**_ _– something else?_

"Hello!" the boy began cheerfully, raising a hand into the air as he did so, and jolting Caren back into reality. "I'm Gil! Can I come in?"

Caren blinked, and then stepping aside indicated the church interior with a hand. "Please," she said, and letting the boy in closed the doors behind them. "Then, how may I help you, Gil-kun?"

"I need a place to stay."

Caren blinked again. "I personally have no problem with that," she said. "But, this church technically isn't an orphanage. You could stay a while, but in the long term, it could be trouble."

"Eh?" Gil said, his smile vanishing. "I'm not an orphan…well, actually I am, but…"

"But?" Caren prompted.

Gil tilted his head, his crimson eyes meeting Caren's eyes. "But you're the Overseer, aren't you?" he asked, causing Caren's eyes to go wide. "And this church is supposed to be a sanctuary for those who want to sit out the fighting without actually leaving, right?"

Caren gaped at the boy, and then collecting herself, narrowed her eyes at him. "You," she whispered. "Just who are you? And how do you know about the Holy Grail War? Are you perhaps, related to a Master, or a victim who escaped? Or perhaps…"

"Gil's not a victim or anything." The boy said, childishly putting his hands on his hips and glaring at Caren before grinning. "Though, you could say I am related in a way to a Master. As I said, I'm Gil! But, that's actually short for Gilgamesh! Gilgamesh of Uruk! And I was the Servant of Tokiomi Tohsaka during the last war, but since he died at the end I had to become, well, _me_ , to stick around."

Caren stared at the cheerfully-grinning boy in front of her, and then pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're not lying, are you?" she asked. "I can tell you're not."

"Of course I'm not lying." Gil said with visible confusion. "Why would I?"

"No, it's nothing." Caren said with a sigh. "Come along, it's best we talk about this someplace more private and comfortable. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No…"

"Then I'll have you join me for breakfast." Caren said. "We can talk about this some more after the meal, Your Majesty."

"Really? Thanks, nee-chan!" Gil gushed, following Caren. "Ah, you don't need to call me 'Your Majesty' or anything, just Gil or Gil-kun is fine!"

"Then Gil-kun it is."

"Okay then!" Gil said with a grin. "Oh that's right, what's your name nee-chan?"

"I am Caren Ortensia." Caren said with a glance at Gil. "I suppose you can call me by my first name."

"Really? Then I'll call you Caren-nee from now on is that alright?"

"Yes, I suppose it is."

* * *

"Sorry for the trouble."

Shirou looked up from where he was packing his lunch things, and smiled before looking back down. "No," he said. "I don't mind. We still have some time left in lunch break, so I might as well put it to good use."

Issei Ryuudo nodded. "My thanks then." He said, also packing up his lunch things. As he did so, Shirou finished, and then walking over to a wall picked up the apparently-broken water heater and placed it on the table. The redhead examined the casing and electrical cord for a bit, while Issei finished packing up his things.

"Well then, I'll go on ahead." Issei said. "I have other business to attend to, so you'll be fine by yourself, won't you?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Shirou said, pausing his examinations to look up at Issei. "You can go on ahead."

Issei nodded and picked up his bag before heading for the door. "I take my leave then." He said as he opened the door. "Don't forget to lock up when you're done."

"I won't." Shirou said, already focusing on the heater again. Issei nodded, and closed the door behind him.

Shirou waited for a couple of minutes more in case Issei came back, and then with a sigh lowered the heater's electrical cord. "Now then," he said, placing a hand against the outer casing. "Let's get to business: Trace On."

Searing pain burnt through his body at that, like white-hot metal slowly being driven into his flesh. Shirou ignored it, tuning out the pain like he was so used to, keeping his eyes closed as he visualized the structure of the heater in front of him.

"Components, analyzed. Fundamental Structure, analyzed."

Shirou opened his eyes, finding the break in the heater which kept it from working properly. "A bit of solder and electrical tape should do, I guess." He murmured to himself, before taking a screwdriver to pry the heater open and repair its insides.

Shirou knew that to fellow magi, using magic like this, to find damages and such to mundane devices and assist in their repair, was heresy and an insult to their way of life. But, he didn't really care much for that.

For one thing, magic or rather _magecraft_ was just another tool for him to help people with, and help him achieve his dream. Unlike other magi, it wasn't an end in itself. While this meant that in their eyes he would be a 'lowly' spell-caster, he didn't really mind. So long as he was able to do the right thing one way or another, then he could live with himself and how other people saw him.

And for another thing, Shirou knew that he had little real potential as a magus. In fact, he could only use two spells, reinforcement and tracing, and every – admittedly half-hearted as his father didn't want Shirou to become a magus despite Shirou's own efforts to be one – effort his father had made before his death to teach what little else he could had failed.

So instead, he advised Shirou to simply practice what he could do, and be the best he could be. Then maybe, despite Shirou's own limitations, his father's unwillingness for Shirou to be a magus, and as Shirou suspected his fellow practitioners' likely disdain, Shirou would become a magus like his father.

And even then, for him that was just another step to his true dream.

 _I'll become a Hero of Justice in your place._

Shirou sighed and wiped his forehead as he finished fixing the damage to the heater's interior workings, and began to put it back together. That done, he put it aside, and after cleaning up the residues of his work, gathered his things, locked up, and headed back to his classroom with minutes to spare before afternoon classes started.

Just another day at school, he would think…in hindsight. And also in hindsight, Shirou didn't know at the time just how much his life would change in the coming days.

* * *

A/N

Archer of Red for Rin, because even if she has a proper catalyst this time around, Rin still needs to mess up the summoning one way or another, because.

Gil stays a kid (for now), because without Kirei he doesn't have a basement of kids being tortured for prana, and without prana he needs to stay as a kid to conserve what he has. He can turn back anytime he wants though, only his child self doesn't want to (no surprise there). More on that later, I know I'm leaving plenty of gaps right now, but that's only for later exposition and flashbacks.

Drip by drip reveal, I guess you could call it.


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 11

Night lay dark and heavy over Fuyuki City, the winter wind cold and biting. Artificial light glared up bright from the city below, countless pinpricks and harsh seas that obnoxiously filtered up into the otherwise clear sky.

Two people stood atop a skyscraper, looking down at the city below. One was a girl on the cusp of womanhood, her school uniform and pigtails lingering remnants of her soon-to-end childhood. The pigtails blew in the cold winter wind, her crimson cloak likewise billowing around and behind her.

Standing beside her was a young woman, dressed in a green and black dress, her long blonde hair contrasting with her companion's very dark brown hair. Untied, it blew wildly in the wind, giving her a wild and free air that only added to her harsh and untamed beauty.

"It's an impressive view, isn't it?" Rin asked.

"Yes, it is." Archer replied. "Though, I do not think you brought me here just to show me this view, did you?"

"Of course not." Rin said with a smile, before glancing at Archer. "I might be operating on an assumption here, but I don't think it's wrong on my part."

"Oh?"

"An archer of your caliber should have very good eyesight and perception," Rin said. "And as a huntress, a fine grasp of the land. From here, with those traits of yours get a grasp of this city, the battlefield of this Fifth Holy Grail War."

Archer smiled back at Rin, her ears and tail twitching with amusement. After a moment she looked out over the city, and towards the bridge in the distance. "You are correct, Master." She said. "Even at this distance, if you so wish it I could pick off prey as far away as that bridge over there with ease."

Rin looked surprised. "Seriously?" she asked.

Archer's smile twitched slightly wider. "Who do you think I am?" she asked, her tail twitching behind her.

"Right, sorry about that."

"It's fine, I was just joking with that question." Archer said. "With that said, while precision is first when it comes to archery, power is also something to have, if second to precision. As I am right now, if you so wish I could blow that same bridge in two from here, with the same ease I could pick prey off one by one."

Rin grimaced. "That…won't be necessary." She said, and Archer nodded.

"Indeed," she said. "Just letting you know, that I can do so if needed."

Rin nodded, and narrowed her eyes. "Can you see or sense any Servants from here?" she asked.

Archer didn't reply at once, instead swiveling her head from one side to another with measured speed, irises narrowing and widening as her eyes took in all they could see. After a moment, she turned, looking out over the city behind, and finally turned back to Rin. "No," she said. "I cannot see any Servants walking out in the open, even in the dark. Though, if they are in the open, they are likely in astral form, and at this distance if they are actively hiding their presence, I would not be able to sense them. Especially not Assassin."

"There's that too, I suppose." Rin said with a nod. "Maybe I was expecting too much of you to ask if you can sense them from here."

Archer nodded, and Rin continued after a moment. "And I suppose it would make sense too, that even if another Master was walking around in the open looking for a fight," she said. "They'd be keeping their Servant in astral form regardless."

Archer nodded again, and Rin looked out over the city again. After a few moments of silence, she looked back at Archer. "Now that you mention it," she began. "How well can you see in the dark?"

Archer smiled. "Even if it's in the dead of night," she began. "And the light of the Moon and the stars are hidden by the clouds in the sky, in the midst of the forest, I only need a single shot to bring down a fleeing boar."

Rin smiled and nodded. "I see." She said. "As should be expected from the Chaste Huntress."

Archer nodded back. "Then," Rin began. "Have you familiarized yourself – in general at least – with this city's geography yet?"

Archer looked out over the city again. "Just a little more, Master." She said. "And then we can move on."

Rin nodded, and also looked out over the city again. "Take your time." She said. "This war has only just begun, so there's no need to rush."

"As you say, Master."

* * *

"Emiya, your hand."

Shirou blinked at Ayako's words, and then blinked again when he raised his hand and saw a thin stream of blood dripping down. "What the…?" he began before sighing. "I must have cut myself washing up earlier, and didn't notice at the time."

Ayako sighed. "That's just like you, you know?" she asked. "You get hurt but only realize it until well after the fact."

Shirou smiled as Ayako shrugged in a 'what can you do' fashion, before wiping up the blood with a handkerchief. Pulling up his sleeve, he tried to find the cut, to no avail. "I guess it must have closed up thanks to the soapy water." He said, pulling his sleeve back down. "It opened up again just now, but closed almost right after."

"It seems that way, doesn't it?" Ayako said with a nod before noticing someone else approaching. "Oh hey, good morning Ryuudo-san."

"Good morning, Mitsuzuri-san." Issei returned the greeting before turning to Shirou. "Good morning, Emiya."

"Good morning, Issei."

"Anyway," Ayako suddenly said. "I still have some things to do at the club before morning classes start, so go ahead, alright?"

"Alright." Shirou said as Issei nodded. "See you later then."

"Right," Ayako said with a wave before running off. Behind her, Issei and Shirou resumed walking to school from where they'd been standing to one side of the school gate.

"What was that all about?" Issei asked.

"Hmm?" Shirou hummed questioningly before realizing what Issei was referring to. "Oh that…it looks I cut myself washing up after breakfast earlier, and I didn't notice at the time. I only noticed when it reopened up and then closed just as quickly, though not quickly enough to keep from dropping a few drops down my arm and hand to the ground."

Issei chuckled. "Only you, Emiya." He said, and Shirou laughed.

"I guess so." He said. "Mitsuzuri said the same thing too."

"I'm not surprised she did."

The two boys shared another laugh at that, and as they arrived at the shoe lockers and began replacing their outdoor shoes with indoor ones, Issei continued the conversation. "Well," he said. "Since you shared something interesting just now, I suppose I should return the favor, shouldn't I?"

"I wouldn't call getting cut and not noticing it 'interesting', but okay."

"A tourist apparently showed up yesterday morning, and wandered the grounds for most of the day before leaving."

Shirou blinked. "A tourist?" he echoed. "At Ryuudo Temple?"

"Yes." Issei said with a nod. "It's strange, I know. We're not that big or famous a temple, after all. Still, all visitors are welcome."

"So, what was the tourist like?"

"I never actually got to meet her," Issei said as he and Shirou finished replacing their shoes and began to head for their classroom. "I came home late thanks to council duty, and by the time I did, they'd already come and gone. But, according to my father it was a foreigner surprisingly fluent in Japanese, and probably quite rich and high class too, seeing as she had a made tagging along with her. Oh, and apparently she was around our age, though likely younger."

"I see." Shirou said. "She didn't cause any trouble, or get into trouble, did she?"

"No, nothing of the sort." Issei said with a smile. "She was rather cheerful and very curious though, my father said. She also had some knowledge – probably more – in geomancy, though in a different style than the usual. Well, a foreigner is a foreigner, though what she knew meant she understood the ritual significance of the grounds better than most while going around."

"I see."

Issei nodded. "Well," he said. "It's nothing too special, at least about as special as your injury this morning, but I think I've fulfilled my obligations, don't you?"

Shirou laughed. "Yes, I think you did." He said.

* * *

Luvia and Marika walked down a corridor in a mansion, inspecting the furnishings of their overseas residence. In fact, they'd already done so before, when they arrived a few days ago, but today they were receiving guests, and since they'd be shown around the house after their arrival everything needed to be _perfect_.

Luvia wore her hair in its usual, elaborately-curled style, and wore her usual 'work clothes', a royal blue and pure white dress over likewise pure white boots. Marika though wore her hair untied, though her brows glittered with sapphires and electrum crafted into the likeness of small hibiscus flowers. She wore a similar dress to Luvia's, or at least similar in the sense that the color scheme was different but was otherwise identical, replacing royal blue with midnight blue, and pure white with pearl white.

"They should be arriving soon, shouldn't they?" Luvia asked as they finished inspecting the corridor, and made for a sitting room where they could wait in until their guests arrived.

"I'd say about ten, fifteen minutes at most." Marika said, taking a seat in an armchair opposite Luvia. "Don't worry: if your goal is to show up cousin Rin, then you've certainly succeeded. You'll wow her for sure."

Luvia snorted before grinning. "This should show beyond question which of us is truly superior to the other." She haughtily proclaimed, and Marika giggled.

"Yes," she agreed. "As far as architecture, personal wealth, and lifestyle are concerned."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luvia asked, leaning forward.

"If we lose this war," Marika said. "Well, it'll be a draw if she loses too. But if she wins…"

Marika trailed off, grinning as Luvia made strangling noises while balling her fists. After a few moments though, Luvia calmed down, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I can accept a draw." She said, her cheeks pink. "But losing to her? Forget it."

"I too don't want to lose to Rin." Marika reassured Luvia. "Though it's nothing personal: I just don't like losing, that's all."

"Who does?"

The girls shared a laugh at that. "Well," Luvia said. "Strategically-speaking, we've a good starting position. We've a secure base of operations, ample resources at our disposal, and we've also secured additional prana sources for Caster. We also have familiars scouting out and patrolling the city regularly, keeping us informed of the general situation at any and all times, and in position to get specific information on situational changes on short notice. And while plans for actual battle are still a bit vague right now, apart from the general idea of remaining on the defensive short of missing critical opportunities, I'd say we're as good as we can be at the start of the war."

Marika nodded her agreement, and then smiled. "Speaking of strategy," she said. "This meeting is an excellent opportunity in more ways than one."

"Oh?"

"Don't be like that." Marika admonished, though amusement glittered in her bright blue eyes. "You know as well as I do what I'm talking about. There's no guarantee of course, the Tohsaka aren't Edelfelt even if they are related to us, but there's a good chance that my presence could undermine the enemy on the psychological level."

Luvia just smiled. "Take a foundation," she said. "Sow it liberally with doubt, and watch everything built on it crumble."

Marika nodded, but then Luvia narrowed her eyes. "What about you though?" she suddenly asked.

Marika tilted her head, her eyes meeting Luvia's, icy yet reassuring in equal measure. "I have no regrets." She said. "And I'm coming home to my father with no shame for him to look away from."

"Really?"

"Of course," Marika said. "Even if I could change anything, I wouldn't. Because, even the things I've thrown away only help me cherish what I've gained so much more. There's no reason to long for the Ace of Diamonds when I was dealt the Ace of Spades."

Luvia tilted her head, her smile mysterious. "You can be so cruel sometimes." She said.

Marika shrugged, and rested her head against an elbow. "Maybe," she admitted. "But I'll take being 'cruel' over being greedy or an ingrate."

Luvia briefly closed her eyes, and nodded with a short laugh. "Ours is an insane society," she said. "Expecting and praising cruelty, temperance, and gratitude equally."

Marika briefly laughed and closed her eyes as well, nodding in agreement. "It truly is." She said.

* * *

The black car made its way down the street, a pair of women sitting at the back. Rin watched with a certain air of amusement her mother struggle not to fidget with anticipation and impatience. It was understandable though, and Rin wouldn't blame her mother if she did.

It had been a very long ten years, after all.

Aoi glanced at her wristwatch, and with a sigh looked back out the window. "So slow," she murmured, and then her eyes widened as she realized what she'd just done. Rin just giggled.

"So eager to see her, aren't you?" she asked.

"You talk as though you don't understand." Aoi said with pink cheeks.

"Yes, of course I understand." Rin said with a nod. "I feel the same way after all."

Aoi smiled and looked down, her smile fading as she did so. "It's been so long." She said softly. "And from what you've told me about you meeting in the Clock Tower, she's changed so much in those ten years. Ten years…we weren't there for her. Ten years we'll never really know…never see."

"Mother…"

"I understand!" Aoi said with sudden heat before sighing and looking back out the window. "I understand. It doesn't mean I have to like it!"

Rin couldn't say anything, her mother just looking out the window as the surroundings passed by in a blur. Aoi's eyes remained dry though, and distant, staring at things – memories and memories that might have been – only she could see. No tears forced their way out, her face surprisingly cold and harsh in a way Rin had never expected to see.

"There are some things you will never understand." Aoi suddenly said. "Never, until you become a mother yourself. And when you face your father's choice, _my_ _choice_ , then and only then will you understand."

"Mother…"

Aoi didn't say anything, but several moments later she sighed and looked back at Rin. "I'm sorry." She said. "I've said too much."

Rin nodded, and Aoi looked back out the window. They sat in silence like that for the rest of the ride, until at last, around fifteen minutes later, they came to a halt in front of a large property. Shimura came out of the driver's seat, and opening the passenger door showed Rin and Aoi out, the former focusing on her relatives' residence to try and dispel the gloomy air caused by her unexpectedly bitter conversation with her mother.

Rin had in fact visited the property shortly after the start of the renovations. Despite the scaffolding and the small army of workmen, engineers, and such working at the time, she could see that the mansion had in fact, been not so different from her own. Large, but not too large, a modest if well-off example of the subdued Modern architectural style.

But now that renovations were complete, she could see that 'renovations' was an understatement. Calling it reconstruction would have been more appropriate. " _Damn that Luviagelita!_ " She found herself thinking. " _This was her idea I just know it! Always trying to show me up one way or another!_ "

Instead of a subdued, Modernist mansion, the Edelfelt mansion – well one of the two in the city – was now a small _palace_ built in the Neo-Classical style, with a marbled and pillared façade and large, glass windows facing out over the grounds. The grounds themselves were bleak thanks to the season, but Rin could see that once spring came, marble fountains would be playing in the sunlight amidst gorgeous flowerbeds, marble sculptures, and neatly and pleasantly-trimmed trees, the grounds green with grass.

The grounds themselves were surrounded with an iron fence, the bars tipped with brass or even gold, the stone pillars and foundation marbled like the rest of the palace's facade. Rin fumed at the fact, but refused to let it show, or even to consider responding in kind.

" _Luviagelita can be as ostentatious as she wants._ " Rin haughtily thought to herself. " _It smacks of such petty emphasis on appearance over substance, and a thriftless waste of money that could otherwise be spent on worthier purposes._ "

Rin drew herself up as a maid waiting by the gate stepped forward to meet her and her mother. "Good morning." The bespectacled maid said with a curtsy. "I am Adrianna Ilmarinen, Head Maid of the Edelfelt Household. On behalf of Lady Luviagelita, I have the honor of welcoming you to Estate Edelfelt."

"The honor is ours." Rin said politely, returning the curtsy. "I am Rin Tohsaka, Sixth Head of the Tohsaka Clan, and this is my mother, Aoi Tohsaka."

"Then," Adrianna said, gesturing for them to follow her into the grounds and the mansion beyond. "Miss and Missus Tohsaka, allow me the honor of escorting you to my lady's home."

Rin nodded, and as Adrianna turned her back, Rin glanced at her mother, who smiled and nodded encouragingly at her. " _Right then,_ " Rin thought as she followed Adrianna, Aoi bringing up the rear. " _Let's do this. No matter what petty and impudent tricks and baubles Luviagelita might have, I won't let her win. Dignified, reserved, and demure: A Tohsaka is and must be an example of good breeding and proper standing. And so I am._ "

Rin allowed herself a small smile as they arrived on the marbled porch, and Adrianna knocked three times, no more and no less, with the iron knocker on the great wooden front doors. " _Who knows?_ " Rin thought. " _This way, I might even remind Marika who and what she should be, and provide a better example than these…decadent…_ "

Rin's thoughts trailed off as the doors opened inwards, Adrianna stepping to one side. As might be expected, the entrance hall was richly-furnished, frescoes and paintings covering the walls and a great crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Sculptures and vases stood on plinths, but what completely broke her train of thought was not the grand staircase or the red carpet dominating the entrance hall, but the twin files of maids in starched black and white, smiling cheerfully at her and her mother, each maid bowed sideways and with a hand and an arm held out invitingly at the aisle between their lines.

"WELCOME!" they chorused, and Rin felt her jaw drop in astonishment, her self-control all but completely blown away.

 _For fuck's sake…WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?_

* * *

Marika quickly opened her fan, and just as quickly brought it up to cover most of her face. And then she promptly began to laugh, all the while struggling to keep it from showing. "Congratulations," she forced out. "You broke her. Mission accomplished."

"Yes, indeed." Luvia said, also struggling to appear composed when in fact she was laughing behind her own fan.

They watched as Rin and Aoi entered the mansion, making their way across the entrance hall. "Shall we meet our guests?" Luvia asked, already turning to walk across the landing to the stairs.

"I'm right behind you."

"I'm sure you are."

The girls folded their fans, and holding them lightly, descended down the stairs in a measured fashion, Marika half a step behind Luvia as protocol demanded. They reached the ground floor in time with Rin and Aoi reaching the stairway base, Luvia keeping a small, reserved smile on her face, likewise matched by Marika.

"Greetings, Eighth Head of Edelfelt." Rin spoke first with a curtsy. "And thank you for inviting us to your home this morning. We are honored by your hospitality."

"Greetings, Sixth Head of Tohsaka." Marika returned the greeting. "And the honor is mine, cousin."

"Indeed," Rin said with a nod, before gesturing behind her to her mother, who was covertly looking at Marika. "Allow me to introduce my mother, Aoi Tohsaka."

"Welcome, Aunt Tohsaka." Luvia said, curtsying as Aoi did likewise. "My home is honored by your presence."

"The honor is mine, Lady Edelfelt." Aoi said, and causing Luvia to politely laugh.

"Please," she said. "Call me by name, at least outside of strictly-formal circumstances."

Aoi blinked, and then smiled and nodded. "Very well," she said. "Lady Luviagelita."

Luvia nodded, and then gestured at Marika who curtsied. "Allow me to introduce my cousin," Luvia said. "Marika Edelfelt. Though she is of the youngest branch of our clan, she is as a sister to me, and bears my trust like none save for my own sister, Marjatta."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Aunt Tohsaka." Marika said. "It has been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has." Aoi said, her voice heavy with emotion, causing the two Edelfelts' eyes to narrow ever so slightly, Rin's even more so. After a moment though, Adrianna stepped forward from the side, and whispered something to Luvia's ear.

"Now then," she said, smiling widely at her relatives. "I would be honored if you allow me to take you on a tour through my humble home."

Rin's eyes flashed, though she kept any hint of it showing in her voice. "We'd be even more honored if you would grant us such a privilege, cousin." She said.

"Splendid!" Luvia said, already turning to lead the way up the staircase. "If you'll please follow me…"

As Luvia and Marika's eyes met ever so briefly as the former passed the latter, they exchanged an amused flash of their eyes at each other. " _Are we really going to keep bullshitting Rin like this?_ " Marika asked through their telepathic link. " _Not that watching her mentally – or actually – grinding her teeth is unamusing, but spouting polite bullshit gets tiring eventually._ "

" _Tired already?_ "

" _Of course not._ " Marika replied. " _If I must, I can spout and tolerate bullshit for hours. Formal training and all that._ "

" _Then let's keep at it for now._ " Luvia said. " _Don't worry, we can relax a bit or more once we start having brunch. So just say what you have to say, and enjoy the grinding of teeth._ "

Telepathic laughter echoed through the link, and it took all of Luvia's self-control not to react in kind.

* * *

"A shame we can't have brunch on the grounds." Luvia said. "Perhaps if the Holy Grail War took place in spring, but not in winter. My landscape architects and engineers assure me that the grounds would look like a vision of paradise in spring and summer."

The four of them – Luvia, Marika, Rin, and Aoi – were having brunch at a round table on a second floor balcony that looked out over the back of the Edelfelt property. Maids were nearby to attend to their needs, though there was water and fruit juice readily at hand on the table, along with meat, fruit, and vegetable pies for their consumption.

It was rich, heavy, Western food, and not really something Rin and Aoi (Rin less so given the amount of time she spent at the Clock Tower every year) were used to, but since it was only once in a while, they enjoyed their meal better than they expected. "What about autumn?" Rin asked.

"There isn't supposed to be autumn much less winter in Paradise, is there?" Luvia asked.

"Guess not." Rin replied.

"If so," Marika put in, taking a sip of water. "Then paradise isn't so perfect after all. There's something to the golden days of autumn that's lacking in the promise of spring and the flower of summer, and the same goes for winter's silver nights."

Luvia laughed at that. "Poetic, aren't you, Marika?" she asked.

Marika's cheeks turned pink, and she briefly lowered her head. "No," she said. "Just sentimental."

"Then," Aoi asked. "If Paradise isn't ideal for you, what is?"

"Arcadia is nicer."

There was general agreement with that. "A peaceful, pastoral utopia, eh?" Luvia said with a small smile. "Well, I should have expected that. You grew up on a farm, didn't you?"

"Your father's a farmer?" Aoi asked in surprise.

"Veterinarian," Marika corrected before raising her hands. "And I'm not talking about the details, not over the brunch table. Talk about inappropriate surroundings."

There was laughter and nods at that. "But yes," Marika said as the laughter died down. "I grew up on a farm more or less, and while I wouldn't say I'm an expert on farming I know my way around a farm and the seasons, enough so I can get a good start as a farmer if I want to be."

"Do you?" Rin suddenly asked.

"What?" Marika asked with an air of surprise.

"Do you want to be a farmer?"

"Hmm," Marika hummed thoughtfully before shrugging. "I wouldn't mind, but most likely I'll be taking over father's practice. It's to be expected after all. And besides, either way, I'll have my own livelihood in addition to being a magus."

"That's true." Rin admitted. "You can't make money by just being a magus, at least not completely."

Silence fell over the table, and then suddenly Marika sighed while sitting back. "What's wrong?" Luvia asked. "That sigh sounded unexpectedly heavy."

"I'm unexpectedly homesick, even though we've only been gone for a few days, and its winter so home's not exactly at its best right now."

Marika blinked, and then snapping her fingers leaned forward. "Yes, yes," she said. "Why don't you come and visit over the summer? No, not summer, autumn is better. This might seem a bit insulting so I apologize in advance, but urban festivities can be rather…artificial. The festivals – especially in autumn with the harvest – in the countryside are much more natural and enjoyable. They…speak, to the spirit, in a way that urban festivities can't."

"T-this is so sudden, I mean…" Rin fumbled, before glancing at her mother. Aoi just stared at Marika, her eyes meeting the younger girl's for several moments, her expression unreadable. And then smiling, she glanced back at Rin.

"I wouldn't say its sudden," Aoi said. "We'll have a few months to prepare at least. Though, I don't think we're available this spring, but summer and autumn should be fine."

"That's great!" Marika said happily, and Luvia nodded a few times in agreement before looking at Marika.

"While your enthusiasm for autumn festivals is understandable," she began unexpectedly formally. "Other people have their own preferences. I for one prefer summer over autumn."

"The lake parties?"

"Naturally," Luvia said with a grin. "What's my lead over you in the swim races? Thirty-two to twenty-three? Draws don't count, remember?"

Marika narrowed her eyes. "Don't get so cocky, dear cousin," she said. "What's Marjatta's lead over you? Thirty-five to twenty?"

Luvia flinched and spluttered incoherently at that, and laughter erupted from the other people at the table at that. "Traitor," Luvia snapped at Marika at that before sticking her tongue out, causing Marika to shrug and stick her own tongue back.

And then Luvia blinked, and glanced at the open interior of the room leading into the balcony. "What's wrong?" Marika asked.

Luvia's expression turned serious and she looked down at her plate for a few moments before glancing at Rin. "Shall we get to serious matters then?" she asked, and Rin's expression turned serious as well.

"Very well," she agreed with a nod, Luvia nodding back as well. "Archer."

"Caster,"

The two Servants materialized in the interior facing each other, their eyes widening as they saw each other. And then Archer's expression turned into a grimace, while Caster beamed wide before jumping at the older woman.

"ATALANTA…!"

* * *

A/N

Sorry, I couldn't resist having Luvia get a few digs at Rin. But seriously, if she wanted to I don't doubt she could pull off in canon what I wrote in here. Canonically she bought a mansion in London (where land prices are insane to my knowledge) on short notice _out of her own pocket money_ , and before that rented most of a dorm building as a matter of course. Give her time, more than pocket money, and the motivation, and she could probably turn a modernist mansion into a Neo-Classical pocket palace to live in.

And of course, I enjoyed throwing Rin ever so briefly into the role of Haruhi Fujioka.

Finally, I know Aoi's acting a bit OOC in this chapter, but keep in mind it's been ten years since Fate/Zero, and Tokiomi's been dead all that time. And in that time, she's had the responsibility of raising Rin alone, keeping the household together and afloat, and other such responsibilities. It'd be stranger if she didn't change at least a bit in those ten years, probably even looking back at her past with jade-colored glasses.


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 12

"It's been such a long time!" Caster gushed, arms wrapped around Archer where they were sprawled out on the floor, the violet-haired girl on top of the blonde woman, rubbing their cheeks together. "You've grown so much since I last saw you…literally! Ah!"

Caster blinked, pulling Archer up into a sitting position before looking her over. And then she began pulling on Archer's ears. "These are real?" she asked.

Archer's response was a fist coming down – but not too hard – on Caster's head. "Truly," Archer said, getting to her feet as Caster comically – _childishly_ – clutched at the top of her head. "You are such a child, Medea. Though, I suppose that's not your fault, and I'm going to have to say that perhaps it's for the best that you were summoned as you are now, instead of your…older, self."

Rin – who like her mother had been gaping open-mouthed at Caster's reaction at Archer's appearance – blinked upon hearing Caster's true identity, and visibly pulled herself together before looking at her cousins. Said cousins looked completely unfazed for some reason.

 _Or perhaps, they're just numb._

" _That's_ Medea?" she asked incredulously. "The infamous Witch of Betrayal?"

Marika immediately glanced at Rin with an irritated air, but was preempted by Luvia. "Yes," she said. "That's Medea…but _not_ the 'Witch of Betrayal'. Instead, she's the 'Witch of Friendship'."

"What?"

"Basically," Luvia explained. "We summoned her as she was prior to being betrayed and left embittered and outcast."

"More than that," Marika carried on. "We summoned her as she was during the Argonauts' trip into the Crimea. Hence…"

Marika trailed off, gesturing to Caster: a girl of their age with long, violet hair tied back into a ponytail that reached down to her waist, wearing a provocative dress of pale lavender that left her arms, legs, and a generous amount of cleavage bare. Said girl had stopped clutching at her head, and hearing what was said, sighed.

"He seemed such a nice, young man." She said, referring to Jason. "Though, now that I'm no longer under Aphrodite's spell, I'll admit that it may be that was just a way of getting close to me and getting me to side with him. But,"

"But?" Archer prompted with half-lidded eyes looking down at Caster.

"But, I like to think he really was a kind and good-hearted man." Caster said softly. "Only as time passed, the fame and power he'd gained got to him, and rotted his heart away."

Archer sighed in her turn. "Are you truly certain you are no longer under Aphrodite's spell?" she asked.

Caster looked affronted at that. "Of course I am!" she said. "I'm thinking quite clearly right now! But, I…I want to believe…in the best of him…and everybody."

Archer sighed again. "In a way," she asked. "You're not much different from your older self, are you?"

"What makes you say that?" Caster asked, looking and sounding confused.

" _She_ only ever saw the worst of everybody unless truly proven otherwise." Archer replied. "Whereas you only ever see the best of everybody, despite the signs pointing to otherwise. Put another way, you are innocent where she is scarred."

Caster silently looked down for a few moments, and then after a few moments sighed and rose to her feet. "Is that so wrong?" she asked, patting her dress clean. "I don't think there's anything wrong in thinking the best of others."

"It isn't." Archer said. "But you should also be realistic: the world is a harsh and cruel place, where the worst of others more often than not come out on top over their best. _You know this._ You were besotted by that bitch Aphrodite, made to fall in love with one who despite you having borne his children abandoned you for one with greater power, and when you took your just vengeance against him, the world turned against you. You who were wronged, and who merely exercised the right of vengeance all men and women have!"

Caster winced at that, unable to say anything. "I don't agree with everything your older self has done." Archer said. "I can forgive her – _you_ – killing your father, because you were not in your right mind at the time. I can forgive you, _her_ , for killing that slut and her father, for it was they who set into motion the plot that brought ruination on her and her children, and men and women alike have the right to vengeance. But, while I cannot forgive her for killing her own children, and I consider her paranoia excessive and counterproductive, in this twisted world of ours, caution and measure are fine principles to have."

Caster looked away. "Where did it all go so wrong?" she whispered.

"I know not the answer to that." Archer said with a shrug. "Or perhaps I do, in this and a few other cases as well. Consider, each and every time a woman has been brought to ruination by involvement with a so-called 'hero' of Greece, it always involves a perversion of love by that bitch of a goddess, Aphrodite. You, me, Helen: it was always her. Always her aiding a man who never earned or would never have earned true love and devotion, seeking only possession and carnal satisfaction from the women they would gain with the whore goddess' aid."

"You too, Atalanta?" Caster asked softly.

"You think I have these ears and tail for no reason?" Archer asked with a smile. "Mother Artemis turned me into a lioness for being wed to a man. But, while others call it a curse, I call it a blessing. The whore and her pimp were foiled in the end. And to be honest…"

Archer trailed off before touching one of her ears. "I like them." She said, and eliciting a small giggle from Caster. But the laughter died quickly, and young witch sighed.

"You're probably right." She said. "But, even so, I…"

Caster trailed off, and sighed. Uncomfortable silence fell over the entire room, broken moments later by Luvia's cough. "Caster," she said. "Show Archer around. Apart from the workshop, mind."

"Yes, Miss Luvia." Caster said with an exaggerated bow, and then grabbing Archer's hand dragged her off.

The Masters waited until the Servants were gone before continuing their conversation. "I'm guessing you were planning on summoning the Witch of Betrayal, though." Rin began.

"Yes." Luvia replied.

"Do you really think that's wise?" Rin asked.

Luvia smiled, a cold and merciless smile that had Rin every so slightly narrowing her eyes. "For someone who expects her to be subordinated by mere command spells, then no." Luvia said. "But someone who openly seeks an alliance for mutual gain, the formalities of the contest aside, then it's a risk worth taking."

"What?"

"In short, we would have been honest with her." Luvia said. "We want the Grail, and we'll make it clear from the very beginning, plain and simple. And in our experience, people like her are more likely to trust other people who openly admit their selfish motivations and with it a desire to cooperate for the sake of mutual goals, than others who'd try and cloak themselves with flowery words and ideals."

"That's a rather mercenary way of doing things."

"And pray tell," Luvia asked with an amused smile. "What do you think our family is known for?"

Rin briefly tilted her head, conceding the point, and Luvia shrugged before taking a drink from a nearby glass of water. Aoi in the meantime looked at Marika, who'd been silent since earlier. "Marika-san," the older woman began. "You wanted to say something earlier?"

"No," Marika said before reconsidering. "Well, yes. But it's not relevant to this conversation."

"It's connected to Caster-san, then." Aoi said. "Or to her, well, future."

Marika didn't answer at once, and then nodded once. "Yes," she said. "Yes it is."

She didn't say anything more though, and Aoi decided not to pry, not knowing if it was welcome or not. "Well," Rin began after a few moments. "Since the Witch of Friendship isn't the Witch of Betrayal, I imagine things are more…normal, aren't they?"

"If you mean that our Master-Servant relationship is just a formality that can't be avoided like with the Witch of Betrayal," Luvia said. "Then not quite. Our relationship isn't as mercenary or mutually self-serving like with her older self would have been, but even lacking her older self's experience and acquired viciousness, Caster is still a magus who stands on a level equal to a magician, at least relative to modern magi. Honor is due where honor is due. As fellow magi, she _cannot_ and _should not_ be treated as a mere subordinate, where with other Servants it can be rationalized as something similar to a lord and a knight or vassal."

Rin nodded her agreement. "I see your point." She said. "Well, I won't ask what she might wish for the Grail, and neither will I ask what you would."

"Common courtesy not to pry," Luvia softly said with a small laugh, a laugh shared by Rin. "Then, shall I get to my offer for this war?"

"Alright, let's hear it."

"I won't offer an alliance." Luvia said. "Especially since even if we succeed in reaching the end of the war undefeated, we'd have to turn on each other to determine the final victor of the war. Even if it's unavoidable, I'd rather not have to do so on someone I'd have fought shoulder-to-shoulder with during the war, and with someone I'm related by blood to, to boot. Even admittedly self-serving mercenaries have a sense of honor."

Rin nodded, and narrowed her eyes. "A non-aggression pact, then?" she asked, and Luvia smiled and nodded.

"Indeed," she said. "We won't actively seek conflict with you and yours, and you won't actively seek conflict with us and ours in turn. And should we reach the end of the war together, we can settle this contest fairly without it being tainted by any sense of betrayal."

Rin tapped her finger against a table several times before nodding slowly. "I can agree to this proposal." She said. "But I propose an amendment: if either of us is defeated before the final battle, then whoever is undefeated will have to guarantee the other's safety, even if they have to fight for it. Either by escorting them to Kotomine Church, or by taking them in."

"Taking them in?" Luvia echoed with narrowed eyes.

"Yes." Rin said with a nod before leaning forward. "Family has to look out for each other. Of course, if they're taken in, they have to help the ones still in the war. It's only fair after all. And…"

"And?"

"It'll be a family victory, either way." Rin said.

Luvia raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, meeting Rin's eyes with her own. Moments passed like caramel flowing, and then Luvia burst out laughing. "To a lesser or greater degree," she admitted. "Yes, it'll be a family victory, either way. _If_ we win."

"You don't believe in inevitable victory?" Rin asked.

"That is stupid." Luvia said bluntly. "Unless backed by fact, the idea that victory is inevitable leads to overconfidence, underestimating the enemy, and overestimating one's self."

Rin chuckled. "I agree." She said, and Luvia nodded before gesturing at one of the maids, who bowed and left the room.

"I won't insult you by demanding a geis for our agreement." Luvia said. "We've rarely seen eye-to-eye before, Rin, but you are my cousin. _You are family_. And I like to think you're a good and honorable person no matter what flaws you might have, like the rest of us are."

Rin slightly lowered her face at that, as the maid arrived with a bottle of red wine, and a pair of crystal wineglasses on a silver tray. She placed them on the table, and bowing stepped back. Luvia poured wine into the glasses, and offered one to Rin.

"So instead," Luvia said as Rin took the glass. "Let's seal it, over a glass of wine, our honor as magi, as the heiresses of _our family_ , and by the blood that flows through our veins."

Rin nodded slowly, and solemnly raised her glass. "To your health." She toasted.

"And to yours." Luvia returned the toast, and together as one, drained their glasses.

* * *

Archer and Caster wandered around the grounds outside, eventually stopping at a stone bench near a fountain and a statue of a nymph. The fountain was off of course, it was winter after all, but Archer sat down at the bench and looked at the statue for several moments.

"Too clean," she finally said. "I remember the nymphs of the field and forest, of the streams and rivers, and of the mountains and the vales. The…human-like appearance is accurate, but the cleanliness of the marble is…was not how they used to be."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Caster said with a giggle. "Beloved child of Artemis, virgin goddess of the Moon and the hunt?"

Archer laughed briefly and nodded. "Indeed I would." She said. "But shouldn't you as well, Disciple of Hecate?"

Caster didn't reply, instead looking out over the gardens. "I could make this garden bloom, you know." She finally said. "It would only take a gesture, maybe some potions or distillations that would take scarcely a night to prepare, and all this would be a beacon of spring weeks before it actually begins."

Archer was silent for a moment, and then briefly closed her eyes. "Then why didn't you?" she asked.

"Miss Luvia argued against it." Caster said. "She said it would be draw too much attention, and that even magi should respect the order of the seasons. Winter must pass on its own, and give way to spring at nature's time."

Archer nodded in approval. "And I agree." She said. "Especially with the latter point."

Caster giggled again. "Somehow I'm not surprised." She said.

"Even magic must give way before nature." Archer said. "Magi would be wise to remember this. At least, I certainly think so."

Caster looked at Archer. "That would be difficult for me to accept," Caster began. "Because the whole principle behind magic is to bend or even break the rules of the world through the performing of miracles. In short, it is to make the impossible possible. Easier to do in the Age of Gods, less so in this Age of Man, but that principle remains unchanged. And…"

Caster trailed off, and Archer tilted her head curiously. "And?" she prompted.

"Aren't you being hypocritical?"

Archer narrowed her eyes. "How so?" she asked.

"You're different from how I remember you were, when I walked in this form in life." Caster said. "Age-wise, you are as I will eventually be, aren't you?"

"I am."

"But even so, your heart's greatest desire remains unchanged."

Archer's eyes narrowed even further, her ears folding in on themselves tensely. "Is it so wrong?" she asked. "Children should not have to go through what I went through. What your children would have gone through."

Caster winced at that, and raised her hands in a gesture of peace. "I know." She said. "And I wasn't condemning your wish. But, to use the Grail's power to set the World right…would it not contradict what you said about magic giving way before nature?"

Archer didn't reply at once, but eventually she closed her eyes, her ears unfolding as she did so. "Yes, that's true." She agreed. "But, if the laws of the World, of _nature_ , condemn children to grow up not knowing the love that they deserve, then those laws are _wrong_ , nature or no. And laws that are wrong and unjust, should not be followed."

"It would be a lesser evil to break them, then?" Caster asked.

"No," Archer said. "They do not deserve to be called laws in the first place, so breaking them would not count."

Caster smiled. "It's a very interesting philosophical topic you've raised, Atalanta." She said.

"Maybe," Archer admitted. "Though I have no interest in discussing it. I'm a huntress, a princess perhaps, but never a philosopher. It's just what I believe in, and I see no point in studying it further."

Caster giggled. "Some would call you a fanatic for it." She said.

"And what do you think, Medea?" Archer asked with a small smile of her own.

Caster smiled wider. "Do you want the long answer or the short one?" she asked, and Archer laughed.

"The short one then." She answered.

"I'm a witch." Caster said with a shrug. "My way of life is to make miracles happen. Bending or breaking the rules of the World are what I do. So philosophical discussions on the point of rules, laws, and the morality of their breaking and such are meaningless to me. And more importantly…"

Caster paused and shrugged again. "Children should grow up happy and loved." She said sadly, thinking of the children she would have, and would kill with her own hands. "So making sure they get what they deserve, is something I can't disagree with."

Archer's smile faded, and after several moments she sighed. "You're not her." She finally said.

"Not yet." Caster whispered. "But I will be."

Archer regarded the young witch in front of her for several moments, and then lowered her face slightly. "Is that your wish?" she asked. "To change things from how they – will be – used to be?"

Caster smiled slyly at Archer, her eyelids going to half-mast. "There's an idea." She said, and tilted her head as Archer gave a small laugh. "Do you think it's shallow?"

"On principle, yes." Archer said, smiling as Caster pouted. "But, seeing how the world will treat – has treated – you my friend, I think you've earned the right to be shallow. And if it means averting the tragic end you and yours seem fated to be, then go ahead."

Caster closed her eyes and nodded. "Thank you, Atalanta." She said softly. "Truly, from the bottom of my heart I thank you."

"You are welcome." Archer said. "But, is that really your wish? Or do you have something else in mind?"

Caster smirked and winked at Archer at that. "Well," she said. "That's a secret."

* * *

"Thank you very much for having us over." Aoi said with a bow, Rin likewise bowing beside her. "It was a very enjoyable morning and afternoon for us, and it's always good to spend time with family, no matter how distant. Indeed, it's because you live so far away that being able to spend time together like this is so much more precious."

"It was a pleasure to have you over." Luvia returned the Tohsaka's gratitude, albeit with a curtsy instead of a bow, Marika and Adrianna likewise curtsying behind her. "We should do this more often, though given the current circumstances, not nearly as common as we might like."

Aoi and Rin nodded. "It certainly seems that way, doesn't it?" Aoi asked.

Luvia nodded. "Indeed," she said.

After a moment, Aoi blinked, and smiled. "However," she said. "Perhaps next you might come over and visit us instead. Our residence is more modest than yours, but you would still be welcome and we offer you the utmost hospitality."

"Then," Luvia said with another curtsy. "We will take up the honor of your invitation when you find it most convenient."

Aoi smiled wider. "I look forward to it then." She said. Pausing, she glanced at Marika, who tilted her head questioningly. After a moment, Aoi spoke up, her voice thick with emotion. "It was nice seeing you again, Marika."

The brunette seemed to jolt at that, staring at Aoi for several long moments before giving a smile and a nod. "It was nice seeing you too, Aunt Tohsaka." She said.

Aoi's smile seemed to falter ever so slightly for the briefest of moments, and then the faltering was gone, like it was just a figment of an imagination. She seemed to hesitate afterwards though, as though she wanted to say something more to Marika, but instead turned to Luvia after a couple of moments.

"Well then," she began. "We'll take our leave."

Behind them, Shimura opened the passenger door, and the Tohsaka climbed in before their chauffer closed the door behind them. Giving a polite nod to the Edelfelt, he went around the car to get into the driver's seat, and then drove off at a modest pace.

Luvia and company stayed at the gate until the Tohsaka's car was out of sight, and then with a sigh Luvia led them back into the property. "Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" Luvia unexpectedly asked. "She is…"

"I know who she is, or who she _was_." Marika interrupted. "But, that ship has already sailed. All that's left is another's quiet regret, best left buried and forgotten with the misty memories of a different person's life."

Luvia glanced at her cousin, Marika now walking beside her with protocol no longer as paramount as earlier. "Do you really think so?" the blonde asked.

Marika briefly closed her eyes before smiling at Luvia. "I still wish I had a mother." She said. "But, the kind of person I have in mind is more akin to yours, Luvia, or someone like Aunt Lofn."

Luvia skeptically raised an eyebrow, but Marika steadfastly kept her eyes locked with Luvia's. As they reached the front porch, Luvia sighed, finally convinced of Marika's sincerity.

"My, my," she finally said. "If there was ever any doubt you were one of us by this point in time, it can't be doubted anymore."

Marika just smiled and shrugged. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." She said.

Luvia glanced at her with a slight frown, but again, met sincere eyes from her cousin. "Neither would I." she said, matching Marika's smile with her own.

* * *

The black car made its way down the streets of Fuyuki, on its way back to the Tohsaka property. In the back, Rin and Aoi sat in silence, as they had for the past several minutes since leaving the Estate Edelfelt.

"Well," Rin quietly began. "That went well, didn't it?"

"Yes." Aoi said absentmindedly.

Rin didn't know what to say, unwilling to pry into whatever it was her mother was thinking about, and just as unwilling to interrupt her train of thought. No, that wasn't quite correct. Rin _knew_ what her was thinking about.

After the day's events, there was only one thing she could be thinking about right now.

And so Rin just sighed, and looked back out the windows, losing herself in the blur of their surroundings as they drove by.

Finally, several more minutes later, Aoi spoke up. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to be inattentive or to deliberately ignore you, it's just that…I had a lot to think about."

"No," Rin said with a small smile. "I know. I should be the one apologizing, as it should have been obvious today's visit to and brunch with the Edelfelt gave a lot to think about. I shouldn't have distracted you."

Aoi smiled and nodded, and then looking back out the window, sighed. "She's moved on completely." She said softly, her tone and smile sad. "Completely turned her back on the past, and embraced the future that was offered to her…just like her father would have wanted."

Once again, Rin didn't know what to say. She'd always known of course, that was what should have happened, as was expected by the traditions of their society. But actually seeing it…

 _It hurts. It always has. Letting her go…and expecting her to let go…but I'd gotten used to it._

 _ **Numbed**_ _to it…_

… _but maybe…just maybe…I was hoping…deep down…_

… _that somehow, someday she'd come back to us._

 _And facing the reality…the reality that things will_ _ **never**_ _go back to the way they used to be…_

… _it hurts. It just_ _ **hurts**_ _._

Rin briefly closed her eyes, and covertly wiped at them with a hand. Aoi just kept staring out the window, and to Rin's surprise not a single drop of moisture appeared from her eyes.

 _Why?_

"Maybe," the older woman finally spoke up. "Maybe this is…a sign. Yes, a sign for us to move on as well. To…let go…of something that we know, always have known, we'd never get back."

Rin opened her mouth, closed it, swallowed dryly, and spoke up again. "Is that really alright?" she asked in a whisper.

Aoi glanced at Rin, and the depth of the pain, sadness, longing, and resignation therein actually caused the magus to flinch. "What do you think?" she asked, and Rin didn't trust herself to answer. After another moment, Aoi looked back out the window. "We'll always be family. No matter how far away she might be, no matter how much things have changed, and no matter what hopes and dreams we never should have had have been dashed…we're still family. And we _always_ will be."

Aoi sighed, closing her eyes and looking down. And still, there were no signs of tears whatsoever Rin could see.

 _Perhaps…she has none left to shed…damn it, dad. Is this…is this price worth paying? For anything?_

"We have to move on as well." Aoi whispered, clearly trying to convince herself. "We have to let go. We have to."

And still, no tears fell.

* * *

A/N

Medea's acting OOC? Nonsense, it's just Caster Lily (meta-wise; in-story she'll obviously just be called 'Caster')! Seriously, it's more than a bit creepy to see how… _opposite_ , Medea her younger (approximately 14 AFAIK) self is. And then I find myself thinking of Shirou and EMIYA, and holy shit…!

The parallels are rather striking. Shirou and Medea (Lily) like/prefer to believe/trust in the best of people, where EMIYA and Medea are both bitter and cynical (not that you can really – at least not completely – blame either of them for it) about the world around them.

Hmm…I might write an Ataraxia/Carnival Phantasm-like one-shot based on that, set in Ahnenerbe.

Next chapter: the first battle of the war begins!


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 13

Luvia was taking evening tea on a balcony, looking out over the sparkling skyline of Fuyuki City when Marika entered the parlor. The younger girl had taken off her dress for her usual clothes: a white, collared, and long-sleeved blouse, a knee-length midnight blue skirt, dark grey leggings, and pearl white boots. She wasn't wearing a ribbon or a brooch right now though, and the top button of her blouse was undone.

Marika was carrying a thick folder and several rolled-up maps with her, and had Luvia raising an eyebrow as the younger girl sat down opposite her. The blonde politely emptied her teacup, set it down on its saucer, and glanced at Marika. "So," she said. "Is there a problem?"

"Wolf Recon has identified something of concern along the waterfront." Marika said, placing the folder on the table. She opened it, and standing up spread several, glossy and recently-developed photographs on the table.

Luvia blinked, and regarded the photos. The colors therein sharply contrasted with each other, a bloated, ring-like objects or objects colored red, orange, and yellow in the center against a largely grey and black background. Smaller figures or blobs in yellow, green, and blue were scattered inside and about the ring, and after several moments Luvia recognized what they were.

Infra-red pictures.

The blonde sighed. "Tell me more." She said.

"Wolf Recon's assigned sector is here, along the waterfront." Marika said, taking a map from where she'd placed them on a nearby chair, and unrolled it on the table. Lines, circles, grids, numbers and commentaries among others in grease pencil marked said map, Marika's right index finger pointing at a particular part of the map. "And at first glance, there's nothing out of the ordinary there: just lots of warehouses, some factories, cranes, dockworkers and vehicles, and the like. Whether it's the familiars' magical or mundane senses, there's nothing unusual at all there."

"But?" Luvia prompted.

"Elsa noticed something on the records." Marika said. "A minute, near-undetectable prana bleed, so much so in fact that the detection functions of the familiars' sensor mysteries disregarded it as trivial. Elsa however, didn't think so. She had checks run on the familiars, to see if the sensor functions were perhaps picking up the prana of the familiars themselves. They were not. She then checked if the ley lines ran near the area, and as it turned out they did. But there's still nothing there, be it to magical or mundane eyes. Or at least, to 'normal' mundane eyes."

Luvia tapped a finger against the table several times in thought. "Have you considered the possibility it's just natural activity on the part of the ley lines?" she asked.

"I considered that as well." Marika admitted. "But on the smallest chance there _might_ be something there leaking the prana and leaching off the land's energy, I decided a deeper than usual look was warranted."

"Prana use generates excess heat." Luvia said, and Marika nodded. "The more prana is used, the hotter whatever or whoever the user becomes."

"Precisely," Marika said. "So I outfitted Wolf Recon's familiars with infra-red cameras, and lo and behold: there's something there."

"Could it be a mundane facility?" Luvia asked, still playing the devil's advocate. "And you never mentioned if there's proof or not that something's interfering with the eyes or magical senses of our familiars."

"You're right, there isn't proof." Marika said. "And I did consider if there was a mundane facility in the area, and the prana bleed into the environment from the ley lines. But…"

Marika trailed off, taking another map and unrolled it before pointing at the photos. "Take a look for yourself." She said. "There are no factories in the area the pictures are of, and what buildings there are don't match the profile of the structure in the photos. Something's hidden there, and whatever it is I don't doubt one of the other Masters has his lair there."

Luvia now stood up, studying the pictures and maps, as well as written reports from Elsa included in the folder. The maid might only be a second-generation and a spell-caster to boot, but she had good sense.

Finally, about ten minutes later, Luvia made her decision. "Caster," she called, and after a few moments reality twisted nearby and spilled the young witch out, having teleported from where she was managing their prana pool in Ryuudo Temple.

"Yes?" she asked.

Luvia indicated the materials on the table. "Can you observe what's hidden here?" she asked. "There's something blocking the eyes and senses of our familiars, and while specialized equipment can go around the masking it can only do so much. And while we can adjust our familiars accordingly, that'll take time. Time we may not have, one way or another."

"Alright." Caster said with a shrug. She glanced at the maps, and after another moment held up her hands. A glowing sphere appeared above them, a magic circle slowly revolving around the middle.

Marika whistled at what was being shown in the middle of the sphere. "My commendations to Elsa," Luvia said. "Good call."

Located in the middle of the waterfront was a massive building, about three stories high, shaped like a truncated octagonal pyramid. There didn't seem to be windows they could see, though at three points around the pyramid spindly metallic structures lanced up into the sky, lights flashing at regular intervals.

"What the hell is that?" Marika asked.

"I don't know." Luvia said before turning to Caster. "Can you show us what's inside?"

Caster nodded, the sphere flashing to show the interior of the building. It was well-lit, and largely empty space. Massive cylindrical structures ran along the walls from floor to ceiling at eight points, scaffolding running around the interior and also going from the floor to the ceiling.

Men with goggles and masks dressed in white smocks and with white gloves bustled to and fro along the scaffolding on all levels, working at periodically-positioned workstations or checking computer displays and control panels here and there. Cables and pipes ran between the cylindrical structures, down to the ground floor which was a veritable forest of machinery.

"Talk to me, Caster." Luvia said. "What is that…those, things?"

Caster didn't reply at once, instead studying the building's interior with narrowed eyes. Images quickly flashed through the sphere, Caster in particular taking note of large cables running out in eight directions from the building, through a series of small blockhouses, before vanishing down into the ground.

And then she looked back inside, into the heart of the building, at a large, ring-shaped construct with eight gleaming pipes that fed down into a black pit in the very center of the floor. "I don't recognize the machinery or whatnot," Caster finally said. "But I can discern their purpose quite well. This place is meant to produce, store, and manage magical energy in large amounts. It's very crude, but at this scale the crudity is excusable."

"So those cylinder things are prana generators?" Luvia asked incredulously.

"Most likely, yes." Caster said with a nod. "I cannot be certain until I study them in detail, but that is almost certainly what they seem to be. With that said…"

Caster gestured, several icons on her magic circle flashing. "The magi's mysteries are very crude." She said. "The fields keeping the building hidden are inefficient, using too much prana to achieve their effects, and the defensive mysteries meant to snap closed like a trap against any enemy that attacks rather…tacky, and excessive. Not to mention the way the latter stores prana is flawed: they constantly leak a small amount of prana, necessitating they constantly draw on the nearby ley line lest they run out of the minimum amount needed to properly function when needed, and the leak is easily detected. Not much, but anyone with a good head for something amiss would certainly notice and take it as a sign."

Luvia and Marika shared a glance at that. Though she wasn't present, Elsa it seemed had earned the favor of one of the most famous women and magi in history.

"But," Marika began. "Even if they're rather inefficient, I doubt the massive amount of prana being produced by those…things…"

Marika trailed off to shake her head. "And I thought father and I used modern technology too much…" she muttered before shaking her head again and continuing. "Anyway, as I was saying, I doubt those prana generators are meant simply to provide power to hide and protect that building. And while it could just be to provide **more** than enough prana…"

"Understatement of the century…" Luvia muttered.

"…for the enemy Master's Servant," Marika said. "Somehow I get the feeling that's not just the case."

"I think so too." Caster agreed, showing images of the cables running into the pit inside the building and out of it. "These tube-like things, I think they're connected to something. Maybe more of these places."

" _ **More?**_ " Luvia said, wide-eyed. "There could be more of these things? Why? I understand a _lot_ of prana is needed to keep a Servant at their best, but there's such…a…thing…as…"

Luvia trailed off, biting at a finger with narrowed eyes as she considered the worst. "…no…it can't be…" she muttered. "…but what if…if he needed so much magical energy, why not just tap the ley lines like we have? I suppose he could have predicted that the Caster would have done so even without knowing it was us, but…"

"…unless he couldn't tap the ley lines because of his purpose." Marika said with narrowed eyes. "The ley-lines after all, are connected to the Grail. There's a limit as to how much they can be exploited, without risking destabilizing the delicate concepts and mysteries they support."

"A fucking Grand Ritual…" Luvia muttered. "Son of a bitch, one of the other Masters is trying to use a Grand Ritual to gain a strategic advantage, and possibly win this war in a single stroke!"

"It looks that way, doesn't it?" Caster said with a grim look on her face, unknowingly looking very much like her older self would have been in a fell mood. "Even taking the inefficiencies in the enemy's mysteries into account and reducing their effectiveness by say, twenty to thirty per cent, even for me a Grand Ritual's power is not something to laugh at. If I had to guess, this…place, is a nexus, one of many around the city, forming the Grand Ritual's array."

Luvia growled in her throat, before gesturing sharply at the maid present against the wall. "Get Adrianna and Elsa in here." She ordered. "We need to hold an operational meeting."

"Is it wise to move so soon?" Marika asked after the maid bowed and left. "It might be more prudent to find out more about what and who we're dealing with before taking action."

"I agree." Luvia said. "Which is why we're taking action: long-distance reconnaissance will only provide so much information. And if nothing else, knocking out one of the nexuses should disrupt the enemy's timetable over the completion of his array and performing the subsequent Grand Ritual."

Marika raised an eyebrow, blinked, and then nodded. "Certainly," she said. "It is so."

* * *

"Alright," Otoko 'Neko' Hotaruzuka said, glancing at her clipboard as Shirou finished unloading the lemon crates into the vegetable refrigerator. "Good work, as usual, finishing ahead of time. Well, since that's the case, why don't you take a break?"

"No, I'm fine." Shirou said cheerfully and with a polite if casual wave of a hand. "And if I have some spare time it's better to use them to get started on other things that need to be done, right?"

"Hey now," Neko said. "You shouldn't push yourself, you know?"

"I'm not really pushing myself, Hotaruzuka-san." Shirou said with raised hands, the older woman leaning chidingly at him. "I…"

"I?"

"Well, that's…"

Neko sighed. "Really," she said. "You're a really hardworking guy, aren't you?"

"I…guess, I am. So…"

Neko frowned at Shirou causing him to step back, but after a moment sighed and glanced back at her clipboard. "Well if you insist." She said. "Go help the guys out back load the beer crates inside, and then once that's done, stack them inside the fridges. Oh, and have the other guys help you out as well. I don't want to come out here later to check how things are going, and find you doing all the work while those guys just laze around smoking."

"But, Neko-san, I can't really…"

"No buts!" Neko said, playfully if seriously bopping Shirou on the head with her clipboard. "You're hardworking and all that, but while that's not a bad thing what's bad is when you let other people use those wonderful traits of yours to take advantage of you. Got that, Emiyan?"

Shirou sighed, rubbed the back of his head, and nodded. "Yeah, I got it." He said. "I'll do what I can."

Neko sighed, nodded and walked off. "Honestly," Shirou heard her mutter as she walked away. "I know this country pushes an all work and no play mentality, but this is just…"

Shirou laughed weakly to himself, and then rinsing his hands at a nearby sink and wiping them off, went out back to help two other coworkers bring beer crates inside the bar. "Finished already, Emiya?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," Shirou said. "It wasn't much, anyway."

There was some laughter at that. "Only you would say that." The second man said. "There might not be as many crates, but when unloading those lemons, you've got to check each and every fruit before actually putting them in the fridge, don't you?"

"Well, yeah…"

The two men looked at each other, and laughed. "Only you Emiya, only you." They said, and causing Shirou to laugh weakly himself.

"No really," he said. "It wasn't too much trouble at all. And I mean, it's all part of the job isn't it? So I might as well put my all into it, and do the best I can."

"Well," the first man said. "At least no one can say you don't earn every coin you're paid with. But, you shouldn't push yourself either, boy. You'll burn yourself out if you do, and at your age that's no good. Boys your age should have problems with girls and friends, not their health and promotions and future prospects and all that shit."

Shirou coughed. "Satoru-san," he said with a note of protest. "That's not really very helpful. And while I don't really care much for things like promotions…"

"I know." The older man interrupted. "You're going to say that there's nothing wrong with planning in advance for the future, caring for your health, and that you've got no problems with your friends and you've no interest in anyone else right now…you've said all that before. But, Emiya, I've said it before too and I'll say it again: don't waste the best years of your life. They only come once after all, and better to enjoy them and make some good memories with them, instead of wasting them now and regretting it all later on."

Shirou sighed, and nodded. He'd heard it before, and while he was inclined to take it under advisement – and indeed he would – he knew it would be too rude to say so. And in any case, it's not like Satoru was wrong, even if Shirou couldn't really accept his advice in entirety.

" _I don't think I'm wasting the 'best years of my life'._ " Shirou thought to himself. " _I've got plenty of good memories already, with my dad, Fuji-nee, and of course my friends like Issei or Mitsuzuri and even Shinji…even if he is a bit gloomy. Anything more…well, I'll just take things as they come. And besides, even if things will get harder as time passes, I'm sure that even in the hardest times there'll be things to smile and laugh about. That's why…_ "

"…say, but somehow I get the feeling that I'm not really making an impression here." Satoru was saying. "Well, I suppose in that way you're like kids your age, not listening to your elders. Honestly, of all things you…"

Shirou just smiled as the older man ranted about kids not listening to their elders' advice, and just focused on his work. Between the three of them, they finished bringing all the crates in in about ten minutes or so, and another ten minutes to put them all inside the fridges.

Shirou was inclined to ask Neko for what else there was to do, only to be told off and made to take a break with Satoru and their coworker. The three of them stepped outside, Satoru and their coworker lighting up cigarettes as Shirou stretched his arms overhead.

And then he blinked, as he…smelled, something on the wind. "Hey," Satoru said moments later. "What's wrong, boy? You look like you've got something heavy on your mind. Did you forget you had a date with your girlfriend tonight?"

Shirou shot them a look as they burst out laughing. "It's just that," he finally said, looking back out at the sky in the distance. "Well, don't you think the air feels…heavy, all of a sudden?"

There was silence at this, but after a moment Satoru looked up at the sky and sniffed a few times. Dabbing a finger in his mouth, he lifted it up into the air and nodded slowly. "Now that you mention it," he began. "You might have a point there. Looks to me like there might be a thunderstorm tonight."

Shirou grimaced slightly. "Oh man," he said. "I don't have an umbrella."

Satoru chuckled at that. "Can't be helped, these things happen." He said.

"Yeah, I guess they do."

 _But…somehow…this doesn't feel like just a thunderstorm to me._

* * *

"Fuel cells operating at fifty-eight per cent power."

"Array uplink is disconnected."

"Prana flow is normal."

"Deviation from synchronization is at point zero-zero-zero-nine per cent."

"Secondary cooling systems active."

"Energy converters are active."

"First ring coordinates input."

"Second ring coordinates input."

"Third ring coordinates input."

"Feeding power to Zeus Array. Forty-eight seconds to charge completion."

"Target is set."

Atrum Galliasta smiled as he stood in the node's control station, watching on screens as his workers prepared to test the nexus' ability to control the weather. By itself it was rather limited in power and flexibility, but all together…

…once all eight nodes were ready for use and synchronized he would have the power to raze the city to the ground if need be, and win the war in a single – or _seven_ – strokes.

The blonde man smirked at the thought. And then his smile soured, remembering his Servant's disdain for his strategy, finding it 'cowardly', 'banal', and 'uninteresting'. And while Rider hadn't forced Atrum to use a command spell – yet – to bring him to heel, Atrum suspected this was only because Rider expected Atrum's strategy to either fail completely or in part, either way providing him – Rider – an opportunity to cross blades with an enemy Servant.

 _Mindless savage…_

… _well no matter, once we win he'll have no complaints._

 _Still, if only I had had the opportunity to summon Caster…I'm sure she'd have appreciated my strategy better than that brute…damn Edelfelt…_

The thought of Edelfelt brought a smile to Atrum's face. " _Once the array is complete,_ " he thought. " _I'm going to burn those impudent little Finns from the face of this city._ "

In truth, he dearly wanted to do it with the first shot, but ultimately decided against it. First of all, this _was_ a test shot, and he didn't want to frustrate himself by rushing and failing to destroy Edelfelt should the test fizzle out.

Second, there was a possibility, given the limitations of a node, that even at full power Edelfelt's bounded fields could hold up against its power. And even if they didn't completely or in part, it might tip his hand to other Masters and draw their wrath, or worse, Edelfelt might survive and come after him in revenge.

Either way, he couldn't risk exposing his strategy before his trump card was ready in full.

And ultimately, victory – and revenge – grew sweeter with anticipation.

Atrum's smile grew predatory as he watched on a section of the screen the ringed sections of the node's roof slide into position, arcane symbols falling into place as they did so, the thunderclouds overhead rumbling as mysteries shook to life as concepts were invoked and prana saturated the zone of operation.

"Releasing safety."

"Final warning issued to all duty personnel."

"Preparations for test firing complete."

"Safety is released."

"Five seconds to charge completion."

"Connect the trigger."

The trigger flashed red beneath the safety cover, which Atrum flipped open before pressing the button beneath. Outside of the building, the stink of copper filled the air to overwhelming, the arcane symbols on the roof flashed to blinding, and after a few rumbles in the storm clouds overhead, a massive blast of lightning arced down from the heavens towards a deserted block of warehouses, factories, and vehicle pools further down the waterfront.

It lasted only for an instant, but that instant was enough. In that instant, the entire and much of its surroundings were reduced to rubble. Across the city, the thunderous boom echoed, and citizens looked up and murmured in worry at the clouds overhead, and wondered where the lightning had struck.

"Test successful." The operator said, and Atrum began to laugh, even as reports began flooding in.

* * *

Shirou ran through the streets, making his way to the waterfront. He didn't know what had happened, but…but…

…but…

 _It was like I'd gone back in time. Back then…back in that hellish place…_

Shirou grit his teeth as he _remembered_. He remembered the furnace-like heat all around him, singing his hair and clothes, scorching his skin, the stink and sharp burn of ash and soot as they choked his lungs.

He remembered the dead and the dying, the pleas for help all coming around him.

And he remembered _ignoring_ them, remembered how he just kept on walking, prioritizing his own survival, and how he'd lived where they all died.

Shirou grit his teeth harder, and forced himself to run faster. A part of him knew it was stupid. He could barely call himself a magus, and yet here he was, running to where a magus had probably holed himself up, if the sharp stink of copper, of _prana_ , floating through the air in staggeringly huge amounts were any sign, and then that blinding and unnaturally powerful blast of lightning…

…but that was exactly why he had to go do this.

Somehow, he just knew, that whoever was behind that blast of lightning was up to no good, and he would not just stand by and do nothing. Not this time…not ever again…

He would…!

Shirou staggered, his entire body shaking and falling on all fours as he felt his circuits burn white-hot and his body shaking from what seemed to be minor seizure of some sort. And they seemed to be getting worse, thought becoming harder and harder to do as his nerves slipped steadily out of his control.

 _Damn it…I…I won't…I won't let it…!"_

The pain turned unbearable, Shirou shouting in defiance as everything seemed to go white…

…and then it was over, Shirou spitting out blood as he rolled onto his back, his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath. He stayed there, lying on the ground, breathing hard and heavy, for several minutes, and with a groan rolled back on all fours, and forcing himself to his feet staggered to the nearest wall.

 _Just…what was that…no, I know what that was._

 _Bounded field…_

He wiped at the blood pouring from his nose, and supporting himself with a hand against a wall staggered along. A few minutes later and he was finally able to walk unsupported, if still with some difficulty, but that too disappeared after a few more minutes.

All that was left was incredible sense of soreness, as though he'd been beaten by a big, uneven stick all over. It would probably go away after a night's sleep, but first he needed to see.

He needed to see what had happened. He had to do what he can and should. And then, and only then could he leave.

 _No matter what, I won't let whoever this guy is just do as he pleases._

Finally, several minutes later, Shirou arrived to see a scene of desolation. The buildings around him all had massive cracks over their walls, and any windows were broken. More than a few had collapsed, while vehicles were lying on their backs and sides, many with crushed sections where they'd slammed against walls, and plenty had been blown through.

But that was nothing compared to what lay beyond, where nothing but rubble and shattered hulks filled the ground. "What is this…?" Shirou muttered. As he said this, two things happened.

First, he suddenly found himself unable to move.

Second, a magic circle appeared around his feet.

Shirou barely registered this, and then the world went white, and filled with nothing but pain.

And then darkness.

* * *

A/N

Stupid boy, poking your nose into things that are none of your business. But then again, if you didn't you wouldn't be Shirou Emiya, and you wouldn't meet the women who will own you for the rest of your life. And I suppose anyone who just hurls lightning around that powerful in the open is likely up to no good, and knowing you, you won't stand just doing _nothing_.

Don't worry, he's not dead. I've got plans for Mister 'I want to be a Hero of Justice'.

On another note, I remember watching UBW and seeing Atomic Gatorade (Atrum Galliasta) and his workshop, and found myself thinking 'seriously'? Is that really a workshop? It looks very much like those clone factories on Kamino in Star Wars.

So when I wrote this chapter, I thought to myself, should I go big, or not? And then I decided, 'meh, let's have some fun'. So go big it is…though it's very deceptive, since as Caster in UBW and Caster Lily here (and another magus in _El-Melloi Case Files_ ) said Atomic Gatorade's mysteries are ramshackle and inefficient.


	15. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 14

In the night skies above the Fuyuki waterfront, against the starry backdrop of the heavens above, space seemed to twist and tear into itself. A moment later and it returned to normal, but only after disgorging a pretty young girl with unusual coloring and provocative attire to float in the skies above.

Caster looked down at the truncated pyramid below, and narrowed her eyes at the arcane symbols carved into its roof. A thought allowed her to 'see' the outline of the bounded fields in the area, and her eyes narrowed further as she instinctively perceived their faults.

Caster gestured, summoning her staff into her hands as she gently floated down to just above the edge of the bounded fields. Raising her staff, she tapped it once against the fields, sending translucent ripples rippling across them.

Setting her staff aside to float beside her, Caster placed her hands against the fields, and with one smooth, quick action spread her arms wide. Multiple glowing magic circles appeared and hung around her on the fields, and with a gesture they merged into a single impossibly-complex circle.

"What is this?" Caster muttered with a mix of confusion and disdain. "Even a freshly-inducted acolyte at the Temple of Hecate could construct a better spell matrix than this. Hades, Miss Luvia and Miss Marika are still children and they construct better matrices than this."

Shaking her head, Caster worked on the matrix of magic circles that collectively represented the bounded fields' conceptual structures. Every few moments though she would tut and shake her head.

" _Sloppy,_ " she thought to herself. " _The defensive functions are powerful, really powerful, probably enough to kill Miss Luvia or Miss Marika even if they knew they were there, and they just weren't careful enough. But, the functions powering it are so inefficient, so much so that they'd probably collapse after one use._ "

Caster snorted at that, and glanced to the sea of rubble and shattered modern vehicles the enemy's little stunt from earlier had left behind. " _In fact,_ " she thought. " _Most of them did collapse after what happened earlier. And what didn't collapse are shaky and only partly if not outright barely functional._ "

Caster sighed. " _It's almost as if the enemy Master or magi focused almost purely on their mysteries' combat aspects, and only did the bare minimum work needed for the ancillary and other functions._ " She thought. " _That's so improper. It's like taking the Art lightly, a means to an end as opposed to what it really is._ "

Caster blinked, and paused her work to chuckle to herself. "I sound like a modern magus, saying that." She said, with a look at sky above. And then with a sigh she got back to work. "But, it's not wrong. Be it modern or ancient magi, the Art is a gift that should be treasured, treated with proper respect, and directed in an appropriate fashion. Anything less dishonors it, and renders moot the magi in question's rights to the Art."

Caster smiled and nodded, and after several more moments nodded again. "That should do it." She said, before reaching out through her telepathic link with her Master and with Marika.

" _Miss Luvia,_ " she thought. " _Miss Marika, I'm all set over here._ "

" _Understood,_ " Luvia's thought ghosted through their link. " _We're in position as well. You may proceed._ "

" _Yes!_ " Caster thought, and then took a deep breath. She didn't particularly like the idea of fighting a war, much less fighting at all, but she did accept Luvia's call to be her Servant, so she had to live with all that entailed.

 _I couldn't refuse Miss Luvia when she asked me to be her Servant, even it meant having to fight in a war._

 _But, Miss Luvia and Miss Marika turned out to be such nice people. They're not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, not that anyone is, and I never expected them to be. They're just children on the brink of adulthood, simply seeking to prove themselves to their family, and trust me to help them do so._

 _So, I'll trust them too, and leave them with no regrets for trusting me so._

 _And, perhaps this way, one way or another, I can leave a better legacy, no matter how small in comparison, than the last time._

 _That will be enough._

With a deep breath, Caster grabbed her staff, and stabbed the base into the middle of the matrix. It flashed, energy arcing over it, and then it _cracked_.

A moment later and it shattered, sending ripples through the bounded fields' surface. And where a ripple struck one of the bounded fields' seals, they shattered with a bright shower of sparks and a boom of displaced air. On the ground, this took the form of small explosions, debris pluming up across the waterfront, and in a few places starting fires where the explosions set liquid fuel ablaze.

And in the skies above, Caster set her face. " _Come,_ " she thought. " _My enemy._ "

* * *

"Bounded fields have collapsed!"

"Motion sensor network is seventy-two per cent non-functional!"

"CCTV network is seventy-seven per cent non-functional!"

"We are visible, I repeat, we are visible!"

"Emergency personnel, execute Contingency Plan Beta-Nine! I repeat, emergency personnel, execute Contingency Plan Beta-Nine!"

"First Response Teams, standby for potential deployment! I repeat, First Response Teams, standby for potential deployment!"

"What's the meaning of this?" Atrum Galliasta demanded, trembling in rage from the reports coming in and the images on the screen. "Is it an enemy attack? Or was it a side-effect of the test firing? Somebody give me a damn answer, you worthless incompetents!"

"Lord Galliasta," one of his workers finally began, his voice muffled by his mask. "I've checked the way the fields have collapsed, and it seems they were collapsed from the outside."

"So it's an enemy attack then?"

"So it would seem." The man said with a nod. "And while I cannot identify the specific point from where the field was collapsed, I can identify the general direction: Beta Quadrant."

"Well done," Atrum growled. "We'll make those damn interlopers pay for this. Hurry and conduct diagnostics, and alert our defenses! Do not allow the enemy to damage the node! And send the First Response Teams to Beta Quadrant, hurry!"

"Yes sir!"

As orders began to be issued, Atrum narrowed his eyes. " _The bounded fields were destroyed all at the same time._ " He said. " _Outside of the Barthomeloi, I can think of few families with the skill and power to do so in a short amount of time, and with such finesse that we never detected it until the fact was done. And none of them are participating in this war. Which means…_ "

"Caster," Atrum hissed, his face twisted with loathing. "And, Edelfelt…"

Atrum turned to a bulky figure in bronze and red, arms crossed and leaning unconcernedly against the wall a short walk behind him. "Caster is here." Atrum said. "Neither that impudent blonde brat nor her dark-haired henchwoman could have accomplished such a feat of Thaumaturgy on their own. It has to be their Servant. Find her, and end her."

"Humph," Rider snorted as he straightened and turned away. "A witch? Hardly a worthy fight, but I suppose it's better than just standing around in this dull place with nothing to do."

Atrum narrowed his eyes at the implied insult. "Gordon," he said to one of his workers. "You're in charge until I get back."

"You're going out yourself, sir?" the man in question asked in surprise.

"Of course I am." Atrum said. "Someone's going to have to teach those brats their places, and who better than me?"

Rider glanced at his Master from the corner of his eyes. "Humph," he snorted again. "We shall see."

Atrum glanced darkly at his Servant, but the latter did not reply. After a moment Atrum strode away, heading for the stairs and past his Servant. "Let's go!" he commanded, and Rider silently followed.

* * *

Jeeps roared down the waterfront's narrow streets, armed men in flak jackets inside, festooned with and clutching weapons. Heavy machine guns were mounted on the jeeps, one man each manning them. They drove towards and then through the area they called 'Beta Quadrant', fanning out in search of their enemy.

Elsa crouched on top of a warehouse, watching in silence as a quartet of jeeps rolled towards her hiding place. She was dressed for combat, a collarless, dark blue shirt with short sleeves under a dark green flak vest, and blue and grey-patterned cargo pants and black boots. Heavy gloves protected her hands, with which she held an RPG.

Glancing up, she nodded across the street to another maid, dressed similarly to her and likewise carrying an RPG. The other maid nodded back, and then signaled with a flashlight and Morse Code to a third maid on another building, who signaled back in kind.

The second maid signaled back to Elsa, who nodded and carefully took aim as the jeeps passed by. She ignored the first and second jeeps, and instead focused on the third. Without using reinforcement, and relying purely on physical training, she held steady, tracking the target with an eye down the barrel, and then pulled the trigger.

The RPG roared down, and struck the third jeep squarely in the back, sending it up in a fireball and killing everyone inside. The other jeeps skidded to a halt, but other RPGs were opening up now, also sending the second and first jeeps up in flames.

Men were now jumping out of and dispersing from the fourth jeep as Elsa jumped down from the roof, using reinforcement to brace her landing. Flipping through the air, she crossed her arms with long-bladed daggers held in both hands, jewels on their hilts glowing as she poured prana into the weapon-mystic codes.

"Strike," she said, uncrossing her arms as she cast her aria. "Fangs of the Wind Dragon!"

Mono-molecule thin blades of wind carved down from her knives' blades, and literally cut the jeep into four. One of the men was unlucky to have a leg along a wind blades' path, and had it cleanly taken off along the shin.

Blood gushed as the man collapsed with a scream of agony, and then the jeep exploded, killing the injured man and the gaping men around the jeep. The flames provided a theatrical background for Elsa as she crouched on the ground, another jeep driving up.

Men jumped out as she rose to her feet, and then combining reinforcement with wind elemental magecraft reducing air pressure to near-nothing, threw a pair of throwing knives with superhuman speed. They buried themselves in the foreheads of the machine gunner and the driver, who toppled over.

The other men shouted in fear and fury, opening up with submachine guns as they did so. Elsa charged them from the front, zigzagging as she closed, knives flashing in her hands, moving with superhuman speed and avoiding their wild, barely-aimed fire.

One man went down, blood spraying from his throat as Elsa sheared through it and nearly through the man's neck with an uncrossed motion of her arms.

The next man was disemboweled, and then had his throat cut open by the backswing. A backswing with the free hand had a knife flying into a third man's head, and then Elsa was dodging again, as the last man opened fire with his sidearm up close.

A stab to the gut doubled him over, and a reinforced blow to the back of the neck provided the killing blow.

"Amazing, Elsa!" one of the other maids gushed.

"Elsa!" the third maid said, pointing in the distance. "It's the enemy! There's more of them!"

"Good," Elsa replied, quickly retrieving the knives she threw earlier. "Let's move!"

"Yes!"

* * *

In another part of the waterworks, Luvia and Marika quickly but silently stalked through the shadows. Luvia wore her usual clothes but with the sleeves removed, while Marika was in combat attire similar to Elsa and her team, except for the pair of gauntlets instead of heavy gloves that she wore.

They'd infiltrated from a different direction, trusting in the mayhem Elsa and her team were wreaking to draw the enemy's attention, allowing Luvia and Marika to get close. And thus far, so far so good.

Luvia held a hand up, standing against a wall and in the shadows. Marika did likewise, crouching down and looking past Luvia around the corner, the older girl also looking around the corner.

Up ahead, they could see the ruins that were the fruit of the enemy's partial activation of their ritual array. "Son of a bitch," Luvia swore in a whisper. "Look at that. If this is just say, a sixth or so, of the array's power, think how much more powerful it will be if completed."

"It certainly feels very different," Marika murmured. "Looking at it up close and personal, instead of seeing it through Caster's spell."

Luvia nodded in agreement, and Marika smiled weakly. "On the bright side though," she began. "It's a very crude and inefficient system. Just the fact that he needs something so…inanely complex, to pull it off, is proof of that, even if Caster didn't admit herself how ramshackle it is."

"Grand Rituals are always complex things." Luvia remarked.

"They are." Marika agreed. "But, look at the Holy Grail War. It's at once complex and yet simple for all that, requiring none of all the enemy's gaudy artificialities to pull."

Luvia smiled in amusement, and nodded before glancing at Marika. "Point," she admitted. "But, this is all very academic."

"It is, isn't it?" Marika admitted, the girls sharing a chuckle before looking out again. And then she blinked, her face turning to one of concern and curiosity. "Hmm?"

"What's wrong?" Luvia asked, and Marika briefly lowered her head in thought before stepping back.

"I'm going to check something out." She said, pulling out her sidearm and checking the chamber before holding it pointed down, with both hands. Luvia raised an eyebrow, and then her eyes flickered to Marika's right thigh, where a gleaming Colt Single Action Army was holstered.

"Not using your cowboy gun?"

Marika shrugged. "That's for emergencies." She said, and Luvia snorted.

"I see." She said. "Though, I have to say a cowboy gun is more fitting for magi, if any firearms are. A bit more…historical, in theme."

Marika smirked. "For your birthday," she quipped. "I'll be sure to get you a pair of 18th Century dueling flintlocks. Somehow…"

"Why you…!"

The girls shared a smile, and then Marika's expression turned serious. "Cover me." She said.

"Of course." Luvia said with a nod, her circuits flooding with prana at the mental image of her heart turning to crystal, and then cracking.

Marika nodded back, the mental image of a set of sticks breaking likewise flooding her circuits with prana. "Maximum relativity," she whispered, and Luvia blinked, turning her head to follow the afterimages around the corner and then around the ruins, until in the distance, she could see Marika kneeling down near a shadowed alley's exit.

Marika for her part carefully knelt down next to the body lying prone on the ground, the world still moving in slow motion just in case the body was booby trapped and she needed to quickly get away. Flipping the body over, she patted it a few times, blinked, and then deactivated the time alteration mystery.

Ignoring the sudden pain that erupted across her body at the temporal debt being imposed on her, Marika patted down the boy's body, noting he was still alive in the process. "What is it?" Luvia asked, suddenly appearing next to Marika, the younger girl glancing up at Luvia before turning back to the boy. "A boy?"

"Yes," Marika said with a nod. "From the look of things, a schoolboy if his clothes are any indication."

"I see." Luvia murmured. "But what was he doing here?"

"If I had to guess," Marika began. "He must have seen the enemy firing off this part of the ritual array, and ran over to investigate. Judging by the state of his clothes…"

Marika trailed off to indicate the boy's singed clothing. "He fell prey to the enemy's bounded fields." She concluded.

"I see." Luvia said with a nod and a sigh. "What a senseless loss of life."

"What? He's still alive."

"What?"

Marika didn't reply at once, instead pulling up the boy's sleeves. "No command spells," she said. "So he's not a Master. And,"

Marika briefly paused to turn back to Luvia. "You might remember that this place was shrouded from mundane eyes," Marika continued. "If he saw through the enemy firing off this part of the ritual array, he was no mundane Human."

Marika turned back to the boy. "If I had to guess," she said again. "He's probably a happy amateur, or something like that. Ignorant of the Holy Grail War, and maybe of how magi can be…protective, of their territories."

"Perhaps," Luvia admitted. "Our data certainly has nothing about individual magi or magus families apart from the Tohsaka or the Matou in this city. And I think Tohsaka may not know of him either."

"Oh?"

"Rin is quite responsible, admittedly." Luvia said with a shrug. "She would never leave any magus living on her territory, amateur or not, ignorant of what's going on around here. Perhaps he really is just a happy amateur as you say, no matter how improbable such things are in this day and age."

Luvia paused and narrowed her eyes. "Unless," she said. "He's a servant or apprentice of an enemy Master."

"…possible." Marika admitted after a moment's thought. "But I doubt that. He doesn't dress like me or you, or indeed the way our retainers or any of the usual way magi and their allies dress. And…"

Marika paused again, this time going through the boy's clothes and pockets but not actually taking anything. "If he was a servant of an enemy," Marika said. "Well, he seems to have been here well before us. But,"

"How could he have infiltrated, before Caster took the defenses down?" Luvia asked, and Marika nodded.

"It's not impossible." She said. "But it'd require considerable preparation, work, and material to do so, even if plenty of the bounded fields were knocked out or crippled as Caster said, by the ritual's partial invoking."

Luvia nodded. "And he doesn't have any of those." She said, and Marika nodded.

"Quite." She said. "And the weakened state of the defenses may also be why he wasn't killed by them in the first place."

Luvia hummed, crossing her arms and thoughtfully tapping a finger against her chin. "Alternatively," she eventually said. "He may not be a magus or a spell-caster at all, just that rare person born with magical potential to one degree or another, despite not being born of magi lineage."

Luvia paused and sighed. "Anyway," she said. "What do you plan to do with him?"

"Me?"

Luvia smiled slightly. "You found him." She said. "So you deal with him."

Marika frowned in thought, a curled hand rising to her lips. "I'd…really, rather not have to kill him." She eventually said. "It might sound like hypocrisy from someone who's killed plenty of people already, but I've never taken pride in killing bystanders, and I've always tried to avoid collateral damage as much as possible."

"But," Luvia began.

"I know." Marika said with a sigh. "But, if he's a magus or even a spell-caster, then he qualifies to know about the Holy Grail War, so there's a legal loophole I could use."

Luvia smiled sympathetically. "Well, yes, there is that." She admitted. "But, that's only if the boy's a magus or a spell-caster. If he's just somebody with potential, then…"

"Mental interference won't work on someone with magical potential, realized or not." Marika said as Luvia trailed off. "It'll never stick, even if it works at first. The memories will eventually come out."

"But then…"

Marika was silent for several moments, and then with a sigh, shook her head. "This isn't a problem we have time to waste on right now." she said.

Luvia's eyebrows rose as Marika unclipped one of her hairclips, and placed it over the boy's chest. "Wait," Luvia began. "Are you serious?"

Marika ignored Luvia, placing a hand over the hibiscus-shaped hairclip, the sapphires glowing as the girl softly murmured a healing spell. Luvia stayed quiet as well, looking on as brilliant yet gentle blue light danced in the air, the damage done to the boy's body miraculously corrected. His eyelids fluttered a few times at a certain point, then stilled again, and then slightly over a minute later, and it was done.

"There we go." Marika said. "All done; just some minor nerve damage, and a lot of minor electrical burns all over the place. The shock that probably knocked him out will have some lingering effects of its own, but it shouldn't be too bad, and in any case, I can't do anything about that. Anyway…"

Luvia's eyes widened as Marika took a small, circular object pinned to her flak jacket's collar, and pinned it to the boy's collar before tapping it a few times. And then getting to her feet, she stepped back, and watched as the boy was teleported away.

"You do realize Caster gave us those just in case we needed to teleport to safety in a jiffy, right?" Luvia asked.

Marika shrugged, and Luvia sighed. "Why'd you do it, anyway?" she asked.

"Who knows?" Marika answered. "A whim maybe? Something out of the blue with no real reason for it? A good deed for the day or the night? I guess I just wanted to help him out."

"Humph," Luvia snorted. "Where'd you send him anyway? Our house?"

"No," Marika said. "I'd rather not have him around there when we haven't checked him out thoroughly yet, in case of the slim possibility that he's more than he seems. And besides, Adrianna might not be too accommodating to a stranger that just suddenly pops in. I didn't patch him up only for Adrianna to cut him down the moment he arrives, or for us to go back and find him in a dungeon."

"Point," Luvia admitted. "So, where?"

"A random park," Marika said, and Luvia snorted. "It's fine. We'll be able to find him once we have the time to deal with this issue in detail, I've already set some familiars to keep watch on him until he wakes up, and follow him to wherever he heads to after that."

Luvia nodded. "I guess that should be fine for now." She said, and watched as Marika clipped her hairclip back into place. "How do you plan on recharging those? They stored a lot of prana, collected over a period of time."

"You would know that." Marika said with a laugh. "You did make them, and gave them to me as a gift years go."

"So I did." Luvia admitted with a shrug and a smile.

"As for charging them," Marika said. "Well, a night or so in Caster's prana pool should solve that."

"Hmm…good point." Luvia admitted. "Anyway, let's get back to work. Though, I imagine there's not much point in stealth by this time."

"Yeah," Marika said, following Luvia as they jogged around the ruins and back into the undamaged sections of the waterfront complexes. "We've stood around in the open for too long, long enough for the enemy to pick us up."

"Fine by me," Luvia said with an eager smile. "I prefer a straight fight anyway."

Marika sighed.

"I knew you were going to say that."

* * *

Caster floated over the smoking and burning waterfront, legs and arms delicately closed, hair dancing in the breeze, eyes closed and with her staff cradled in her arms. She'd erected a simple bounded field over the entire battlefield, keeping the sights, sounds, and smells therein escaping, but apart from that she was just content to sit and relax in midair, out in the open.

Which was exactly the point, for her role in the plan was to draw the enemy Servant away from potentially engaging her Master and their other allies. It would also give Caster the advantage of choosing the battlefield, a critical asset as she – or rather her class typically – was the least suited for actual combat.

Eyelids slowly opened, Caster turning her head as she sensed a large amount of prana being channeled nearby. Her body moved into a ready position…

…and wide-eyed, Caster narrowly avoided a blinding white blast of light that lanced up into the sky. " _What?_ " she thought, corkscrewing through the air and pointing her staff in the beam's direction of origin, created a lens-like layer of air before her. " _That's…!_ "

The enemy Servant was a huge and imposing man in bronze plate embellished with black and red, a pair of tassels hanging long down his back from his helmet. He stood atop a nearby building, holding a massive, golden bow in his hands, and as Caster watched, he drew the bowstring back, prana gathering at the arrow's tip, aimed, and let go.

Another blinding white shaft of light lanced up into the heavens, and again Caster narrowly avoided it. A third followed, then a fourth and a fifth, each less powerful than the first and the second shots, but the increased rate of fire made up for that.

" _Alright, that's it._ " Caster crossly thought as she avoided a sixth shot. " _It's about time I fought back, and in any case, there isn't anyone there to get caught in the fighting. So, let's give it our all!_ "

Caster gestured with her staff, numerous magic circles appearing around and behind her, softly glowing motes falling into their centers. Caster gestured again, and the skies went bright.

* * *

A/N

It begins.

Shirou, meet your new owner/s. Look on the bright side, at least in this timeline you didn't get your heart all but cut out, and didn't have to have it fixed by Rin (that is so cheesy now that I think about it). Instead, you just got the shock of your life, and got patched up by Marika.

And now Rider joins the current set of Servants. So far, we have Archer of Red, Berserker of Red, and Caster Lily. Two from Fate/Apocrypha, one from Fate/Grand Order, and – here's a hint for those who haven't figured out who he is – one from Fate/Extra. Now, who's next?


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 15

A barrage of bright purple beams rained down from the skies, leveling buildings and leaving molten tracks and craters across the ground. Debris and flame plumed into the air, and then to Caster's surprise the enemy Servant leapt clear through the smoke, mounted on a great charger with red hair.

" _A Rider who's also an archer?_ " she thought, still opening up with the Rain of Light while sweeping through the air to avoid presenting a stationary target. " _I shouldn't be surprised though. While not as versatile as the Archer Class, the Rider Class is also quite versatile in its own right, given they make up for their lower statistics with powerful Noble Phantasms._ "

Rider fired several blasts from his bow, Caster dodging and returning fire each time. " _Just who is he?_ " she thought.

The answer came soon enough, as Rider used an explosion to boost his mount's leap to clamber and jump up higher and higher on several buildings, and then jumped up at Caster, who belatedly realized she was flying too low. And then her eyes went wide, as Rider's bow mechanically reconstructed itself, like an intricate piece of clockwork, into a great golden halberd.

Rider thrust it forward, and then swept it up and sideways, potentially cutting into Caster's flank had not Rider's mount begun its downward arc even as Caster herself rose higher into the sky. Horse and rider fell through a roof, and as the building exploded from Caster's counterattack, leaped out through a wall on the ground floor, flames licking at and firelight gleaming off bronze plate.

"Could it be," Caster hissed. "A weapon with multiple forms that its user may switch between at will, and horse red as fire with a nigh-unnatural jumping ability…"

Rider chuckled, and then began to laugh, his horse slowing to a canter before coming to a halt, pawing and snorting. "Then," he began with an amused tone in his voice, looking up at Caster and the skies with his halberd resting on a shoulder. "Who do you think I am?"

Caster didn't answer, staring down at her enemy instead. Rider chuckled again. "Not very talkative, are you?" he asked. "How unlike most women,"

"Well I'm not like most women." Caster replied.

"Indeed," Rider said with a nod, looking up at her with a surprisingly respectful expression. "And yet you are, are you not, Witch of Betrayal?"

Caster's eyes blazed. "How dare you?" she shrieked, sweeping her staff and sending a ground-scouring barrage of beams earthward.

 _I'm not her!_

 _I…I was besotted…!_

 _Bewitched…!_

 _Tricked…!_

 _Me…Hecate's prized disciple and priestess…bewitched by one commanding greater power than I could ever wield…_

 _But… even so…I…!_

 _I…_

 _I…I'm not her…I'm not…_

… _not yet…_

Caster closed her eyes, teeth grit in frustration. " _The gods,_ " she thought. " _Fate…they're so cruel…but here and now, they don't exist. They don't…that's why I…!_ "

Raising her staff once more, a much larger array of magic circles flashed to life, and with a sweep of Caster's staff, rained down amethyst death.

And through it all, Rider's laughter echoed through the night.

* * *

Utter carnage.

There was no way it could be called a battle. If the Galliasta guards could put up at least a semblance of resistance, then perhaps it could be called a battle. A pathetic one to be sure, but a battle for all that. As it was, the Galliasta guards could do absolutely nothing as Luvia and Marika tore into them like a hot knife through butter.

The two girls were like blurs through the air, leaving afterimages behind them as they carved their way through the opposition. Luvia through a combination of physical reinforcement and earth element-based gravity manipulation, and Marika through a similar combination of physical reinforcement and time alteration magic.

Equal in speed and lethality they left a trail of corpses behind them, the states of which reflected the difference in combat style between the two magi. Luvia was precise and elegant, delivering powerful punches, elbow and knee jabs, kicks and blows that conserved energy and motion but delivered murderously-concentrated and magically-augmented force to targeted points on her victims' bodies.

Her attacks didn't seem to cause too much damage on the surface, but inside they ruptured organs and shattered bone to a terrifying degree, causing painful deaths from massive internal bleeding and organ failure. In a way it was a rather sadistic way to fight, as while many of her victims fell unconscious from shock and died in silence, others writhed in agony on the ground, vomiting blood and ichor as they moaned and groaned in death's torturous embrace.

Marika by contrast was pure brutality. With a pair of knives, she carved limbs from bodies, split men open, sheared heads off, and in one case actually split a man in two from crown to groin. Blood fountained and erupted wherever she went, leaving behind a trail of dismembered corpses lying in pools of blood and spilled organs.

And yet for all that it was a merciful way to fight, as her victims didn't live long to suffer before passing out from shock or simply dying on the spot.

"M-monsters…!" one survivor gasped out, blood draining from his face as he saw one of his friends literally cut to pieces as blood and organs exploded in a crimson shower as a blur sped around and past.

"T-they're not Human!" another screamed as two of their friends went limp and collapsed gurgling, blood pouring from their mouths as Luvia – ever so briefly still on the scale of a fraction of a second – delivered powerful blows to their chests that utterly liquefied everything in their chest cavities.

"R-run!"

"We can't stop them!"

"They'll kill us all!"

The surviving guards broke and ran, faces twisted in terror as they fled, a pair of blurred figures closing from behind. And then with the sharp crack of displaced air and the harsh actinic glare of lightning, they screamed as they bathed in raw current.

Marika and Luvia jumped back as one, putting some distance between them and this new development. Gravity manipulation and time alteration shut down, the two girls staring at the scene in front of them.

Moments later and the lightning vanished along with the screams, charred corpses falling to the ground. And then a tanned young man with long blonde hair casually dressed in a white, long-sleeved and collared shirt with dark trousers and vest stepped over their corpses.

"Worthless incompetents…" he spat as he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

"You!" Luvia hissed, eyes going flat. "I should have known it!"

"Yes, me, Atrum Galliasta." The blonde young man spat. "And if it isn't Luviagelita Edelfelt and her henchwoman of a cousin, Marika Edelfelt!"

"I prefer the term 'retainer', thank you very much." Marika said, pulling a jewel out.

Atrum's response was a shouted, near-incoherent command, lightning exploding around him in response. A moment later, and the lightning shaped itself into the form of a winged dragon, and hurled itself at the two Edelfelts.

Marika hurled the jewel at the dragon, the explosion tearing up the surroundings and forcing the two girls to jump back a couple of meters. It took a few moments for the cloud of debris to clear, exposing once more the glowering visage of Atrum Galliasta.

Luvia laughed at the sight. "Is that the best you can do?" she asked. "If my cousin – who is a _branch member_ I might point out – could counter your little dragon, do you really think you have what it takes to take me on?"

"You impudent blonde brat…!"

Luvia's smile faded, and her eyes turned to Marika. "I'll take care of this." She said softly. "You take care of that eyesore."

Marika nodded and crouched down. "Maximum Relativity," she murmured.

"Don't think…" Atrum began only to trail off, wide-eyed, as Marika sped past in a flicker of afterimages. He nearly looked back over a shoulder after her, but refrained from actually doing so at the last minute.

"Not bad, not bad," Luvia said with a smile. "It seems you have enough of a brain at least, not to turn your back on an enemy in front of you."

"Brat…!" Atrum shrieked, hurling a crackling stream of lightning at Luvia. Luvia smoothly dodged to one side, eyes narrowing suspiciously at Atrum's triumphant expression.

Behind Luvia, the lightning bolt struck a blood-splattered lamppost. The blood hissed and sizzled as current partly reduced the lamppost to slag, the bolt surging out to strike another lamppost across the street, also partly reducing it to slag.

It did all this in the blink of an eye, the lightning again surging out to strike Luvia in the back.

Atrum grinned as Luvia staggered forward several steps with a cry, bathed in shadow and light as lightning danced around her. And then the grin turned to shock, as the lightning died, and a panting and grim-faced Luvia regained her footing before she could fall, smoke rising from her back.

"That hurt." She said with a glare, straightening up as she did. "Don't do that."

Atrum fired another blast of lightning, only this time Luvia _caught_ it with her left hand. The girl briefly staggered as she did so, but held her ground afterward, forks of lightning leaping out from the pool of blue energy in her palm to lash out at their surroundings, the pool connected by a writhing thread of energy to Atrum's hand.

For over a minute the standoff endured, until with a snarl of hate and frustration Atrum relented. As the flow of energy ceased, Luvia slowly closed her left hand, the energy within flickering out with a 'pop' of air rushing into a vacuum.

"My turn," she said with a small smile, and then in a blur swept towards Atrum. She jumped up a few steps before him, flipping through the air with the aim of delivering a kick at his face.

At least, that was the plan.

Atrum smugly smiled as Luvia came to a halt barely half a step from him, literally standing on one foot against a crackling barrier of pure energy. Lightning and displaced air danced around them, and with a jerk of her body Luvia kicked off the barrier, flipping through the air to land a few meters away.

"Earth grounds lightning." Atrum said softly. He nodded once. "I should have seen that coming. Yes, it's a very simple but effective defense."

The magus paused and narrowed his eyes. "But," he said. "I wonder how much current your body can channel to ground it, or how much can you take before you have to ground what you've taken."

"Who knows?" Luvia asked back, stamping her right foot a few times as though working a cramp out of her muscles. Atrum smirked.

"Leg cramp?" he asked mockingly, and Luvia's eyes narrowed.

"You wish." She said, before raising her foot and then bringing it down hard. With a sharp crack, the ground broke in a line from Luvia's foot towards Atrum, moving quickly enough to audibly displace the air above.

Atrum narrowly avoided the crack, jumping to a side, eyes narrowing as he saw the corpses on the ground lying along the spell's line of fire literally torn apart. " _That spell would have literally stripped the flesh off my bones._ " He thought with grit teeth. " _God damn it! I don't care if the brat is from an older bloodline with a more-developed magical system, the noble wind element and its lightning sub-element shouldn't be so easily countered by something as lowly as earth!_ "

"Let I be the bridge between Heaven and Earth," Luvia began, light glowing between her fingers from the jewels in her hand. Atrum fired blast after blast at her, Luvia dancing around and over them as they tried to catch her from front and back. "And demonstrate Heaven's displeasure to the people of the World: Heaven's Wrath!"

Luvia threw the jewels to the ground, the glowing gems shattering and causing the ground to abruptly heave and break. Atrum gasped and then cried out and shouted as he lost his footing.

Luvia leapt up and away, nimbly avoiding the breaking earth and the collapsing buildings as a magnitude six earthquake shook the waterfront for several hundred meters around. Crackling and explosions erupted, the former and part of the latter from Atrum's defensive mystery as it defended him from falling debris, the magus struggling to avoid getting killed by the area-of-effect spell or becoming vulnerable to a surprise attack.

Other explosions were caused as fuel and other volatile materials in their surrounding were disturbed and set ablaze by sparks caused by tearing and clashing metal, and from damaged underground power lines. And even as the magically-induced, locally-limited earthquake came to an end, the air and ruins shook as a thunderous explosion erupted nearby, flame pluming several meters high as a ruptured gas line ignited.

"Damn you," Atrum growled as he recovered his footing. "You…brat…!"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Atrum whirled at the sound of Luvia's voice some distance behind, just in time to see a throwing dagger fly at him. Had it not been for his defenses, it would have buried itself into his forehead. As it was, there was a bright, blue-white actinic flash, the dagger flying away smoking.

Atrum retaliated with alacrity, a dragon-shaped blast of lightning launching itself at Luvia with a harshly-snapped aria. The dragon tore apart the structure Luvia had been standing on, the girl jumping off shortly before it could strike, flipping through the air with glittering diamond powder trailing behind her as she freely fell.

"In the darkness before the dawn," she whispered, eyes fixed on the lightning dragon in hot pursuit of her. "The stars shine the brightest."

At once, Luvia's body _dissolved_ , turning into glittering diamond powder that flew on the wind, Atrum's dragon expending itself against the ground. " _She can't possibly have literally dissolved into diamond powder._ " The magus thought to himself, eyes and other senses reinforced and pushed to their limit to find his enemy. " _It's just an illusion of some sort._ "

Atrum blinked, and then gasped as around him, hanging in midair, a set of figures coalesced into existence. "Well," Luvia asked, or rather sixteen of her asked as they looked down on Atrum from the air. "You've managed to hold out against one of us up until now, but I guess it's time to step up our game, isn't it?"

"Petty tricks…!" Atrum hissed, to which the sixteen Luvias responded with mocking laughter.

"Sleight of hand is the most basic of all magic, Galliasta." Luvia mocked, her images raising their hands and knives materializing in them. "Before any magus learned to channel prana and reenact miracles in such a way, they were pulling off the impossible – or what passed for it – with nothing more than trickery."

As one, Luvia threw their daggers, the blades flying straight and true towards Atrum. They shattered against his defenses, but the magus covered his mouth and nose at once. " _If I breath even so much as the smallest fraction of that diamond powder in,_ " he thought. " _I'm done for!_ "

Mocking laughter echoed through the night. "Smart, aren't you?" Luvia asked, longer blades appearing in their hands before they seemed to jump off invisible surfaces, falling in a spiral with weapons aimed at Atrum.

"Impudent brats…!" Atrum roared, channeling prana through his circuits and manipulating his defensive mystery's concepts in a certain way. Lightning exploded around him, spreading out in a forking carpet that choked the air with ozone even as it scoured the ground and air.

The images shattered as the lightning tore them apart, and Atrum was moving forward, keeping his mouth and nose covered as he leaped through the clouds of diamond powder left behind. As he flew through them, the diamond powder seemed to twist, forming miniscule blades that cut tatters through his clothes and left blood leaking from numerous small, but painful cuts.

A sound of disappointment seemed to echo through the air, and moments later three more Luvias appeared and leaped at Atrum, carrying what looked like falchions or machetes in their hands. They just didn't charge in this time, instead seeming to test the range of his defensive mystery with their weapons.

"Gotten cautious, haven't you?" Atrum asked with a bloody grin. He held up a hand, and speaking an aria, hurled wildly-forking ball lightning at Luvia. The lightning shattered two of the images, before its forks and tendrils shot towards Atrum, merging with those of his defenses.

Atrum gestured, and blew the last image to dust. "Is this the best you can do, Edelfelt?" he shouted into the night.

As though in response, the diamond powder rose up, and again formed another set of Luvias. "I can keep at this all night, if I have to." One said with a mocking smile, eliciting a shouted aria from Atrum and _three_ winged dragons made from lightning blazing out in response towards Luvia.

* * *

In a secluded spot, Luvia was nursing her injured back, while keeping an eye on the battle through her reflections. Thankfully, the magically-resistant nature of her dress' material, along with earth element-based anti-lightning passive defensive mysteries had reduced the damage greatly, but it still hurt.

As it was, a hole was burned by the lightning through her dress, leaving first-degree burns over a patch of her back and a small number of second-degree burns from the smoldering edges of the hole. There was also some minor nerve damage too…for a given degree of minor.

" _It was rather hard standing up again after that last hit, much less actually performing mysteries of any kind._ " Luvia thought as she finished patching herself up. " _If not for my crest, I couldn't have done it._ "

The girl sighed, putting the spent jewels she'd used to heal herself in a pocket. " _Undoubtedly,_ " she thought, evaluating the performance of her mystic code in the battle thus far. " _It could use a lot more work. That damn Galliasta threw himself through the powder way too easily. He hurt himself doing so yes, but it could have been lethal. And…_ "

Luvia made a sound of disgust at herself. " _The control connections are too easily disrupted._ " She thought, thinking of how Atrum's lightning field unexpectedly expanded outward from his defensive mystery had disrupted her control over the diamond powder so easily. She'd reestablished control quickly enough afterwards, but still. " _I'll need to work on that some more._ "

"Now then," Luvia said aloud, getting to her feet and looking around the ruined wall, focused on a series of bright flashes in the distance. "How should I take action from here on?"

And then she blinked, looking at the truncated pyramid a good distance away, and then at a series of purple beams blasting down from the sky even further away, though in the opposite direction from the truncated pyramid. " _And_ ," she found herself thinking. " _How are Marika and Caster holding out so far? And of course, what about Elsa and her team?_ "

* * *

"I did say I could keep at it all night," Luvia said at the bloody-looking Atrum below. "But this is getting boring. Can't you do anything more than throw lightning?"

Atrum's response was a blast of lightning that shattered Luvia's image and part of the ruin she'd been standing on. A barrage of diamond blades flew at Atrum in response, only to break against his defenses.

"You're one to talk about boring, Edelfelt." Atrum sneered. "Can't you do anything more than create illusions and throw daggers?"

"Oh touché." Luvia admitted, three of her again charging in falchions held low. Only this time, they didn't shatter against Atrum's defenses.

Instead, Luvia's – all of them – eyes widened as Atrum crafted a whip out of lightning with a whispered aria, and with a crackling sweep, shattered the images. Laughing low with satisfaction, Atrum swung his whip again, its coils crackling sharply through the air and against the ground and surroundings.

"Well?" he shouted. "Still bored, Edelfelt?"

"A whip?" Luvia asked. "Really? That is such a cartoon villain-ish weapon. I mean who uses a whip as an actual weapon, really?"

"Shut up!" Atrum shouted, leaping forward with speed he hadn't shown before. "Stop looking down on me, you wretched Edelfelt!"

"It's not like I can, you know." Luvia answered cheekily. "I am standing above you."

That image was shattered with a crack of Atrum's whip, the magus leaping past and lashing out at each and every image in reach. Luvia counterattacked, throwing diamond daggers that only broke against Atrum's defenses, and making it seem as though Luvia was bored and uninterested in actually fighting the battle.

"Always," Atrum snarled. "Always…each and every time…I'll make you respect me! I'll make you acknowledge my power, you impudent blonde brat!"

"Respect is earned, not given." Luvia replied dryly. "And you have not earned it, considering how you always seem to act like a child. Indeed, if there's anyone here who's a brat it's you, with your impression that you always have to have the best and biggest toy in the room."

"SHUT UP!" Atrum shrieked, lightning exploding around him and further breaking the ruins up further. "I will not be looked down on by an inbred brat like you!"

"Oh yes, real mature." Luvia answered from where she was lying atop a ruined and sagging metal skeleton. A blast of lightning shattered the image, and brought the skeleton down with a resounding crash and a cloud of dust.

"Back to just throwing lightning out, aren't we?" Luvia asked.

A blast of lightning answered her question, and then a magic circle appeared under Atrum's feet. "Very well!" he shouted, lightning crackling over his body. "If that's the way you want it I'll show you my real power!"

Luvia's images all looked surprised and even slightly alarmed at this development, even more so as Atrum began more than just a single-count spell. Diamond blades were thrown and falchions swung, but they each kept breaking against his defenses.

As he cast his spell, the magic circle below his feet flashed three times, two replicas rising revolving around him, one staying around his chest and the last over his head. Finally, with a shout, Atrum finished his aria, and a blast of light shot up into the sky. The clouds overhead rumbled, and then lightning rained down all around him, further tearing up the ruins and shattering the images _en masse_.

For several moments, the lightning rained down, and then vanished. For a few moments, there was only the sound of smoke and steam rising from the ground, of debris falling, and Atrum's heavy breathing. And then slowly, he began to laugh, the laughter building until he was laughing at the top of his lungs.

"Now, Edelfelt!" he shouted. "Who's bored now? Who's laughing now? You might have broken my bounded fields, but this place is still my territory! I can still call upon the power of the crown jewel of my family's magecraft for my own personal use! I…!"

A powerful explosion in the distance interrupted him, and Atrum turned to look in disbelief at a tongue of flame and a column of smoke coming from near the top of his array's node. "That's impossible!" he said.

As though in response to his words, another explosion erupted, right below the spot of flame and smoke near the node's crown. And then another, and another, and another, until there were was an unbroken line of flame and smoke running in a line down one corner of the node from its crown to its base. And then there was a larger explosion, ripping the burning corner out and leaving a blazing crack in the node behind.

"A fuel cell detonation?" Atrum said with grit teeth and bulging eyes. "T-that…that damn Edelfelt henchwoman…!"

"She prefers retainer." Luvia unexpectedly said from above, and causing a surprised Atrum to look up.

Five Luvias jumped down from the sky, in a pentagon formation around him. Atrum's defenses crackled and shattered them, but five daggers fell straight and true and stabbed into the ground around him.

A magic circle briefly flashed, and Atrum gasped as he felt his defensive mystery shut down.

 _Impossible! She grounded it…!_

There was the sound of quick feet crushing rock beneath them, Atrum half turning to see Luvia running towards him from the back, and then there was pain, sharp, angry pain, as the blonde girl buried a dagger into his back.

* * *

A/N

And the battle continues.


End file.
